#detective Mobius is something REALLY REALLY personal to me

[sparkplug02]

This is the Best Part to Play (Lokius fic)

Word Count: 6,393

Lokius Oneshot

Diverges from Season 2, Episode 4 of the Loki (2021-?) series. Some backstory:

After the Time Loom destroyed itself, Loki came to with six Avengers in his face in New York, 2012, after the Temporal Loom overloaded. He panicked, spilled the beans about Thanos, and realized he had just set his timeline on a crash course to branching without the Endgame time travel even interfering yet. Sure enough, the TVA came to prune the branch, but B-15 was one of the hunters again. Loki restored her memory and got the other Minutemen off their backs, but Loki realized that if he wanted to go back to the TVA and try to stop He Who Remains again, his timeline has to be pruned. He did so, warning the Avengers to take the Tesseract and run from Alioth, then left with B-15 who set a reset charge.

Back at the TVA, B-15 bypassed him through processing and made up a lie about Loki being so uncooperative that she just pruned him to save time. During a more proper reunion, B-15 explained that she essentially went through the same thing: she woke up in her timeline, right before it branched, was arrested, had her memory wiped, and was made into a TVA hunter.

Loki and B-15 find O.B., whose memory was left intact, and Casey, who was grateful that he was brought back. O.B. and Casey are working on crafting new tech so they can try again, and B-15 is making sure that no one has caught onto them. Sylvie is unaccounted for. Now it's time to get Mobius back.

"Excuse me?"

Excuse? Like Mobius needed an excuse for a break. He had been staring at paperwork for too long. 

He looked up and saw a tall man peaking around the walls of his cubicle. An analyst, but not one Mobius recognized. 

"Agent Mobius, right?"

"That's me," he affirmed, letting the file he had been reading fall to his desk and facing the analyst. "Something wrong?"

"I was wondering if I could... run something by you," the analyst requested, gesturing behind him away from the desk. "I was just transferred here, so I'm still new to this sector, but I've come across something that I'd like to take higher up. Before I do that, though, I'd really like to get a second pair of eyes on this. I've been asking around and everyone says you're the person to go to."

If Mobius could hear the voice screaming in his head, he didn't pay attention to it. "Well, I'm flattered. Not sure if I'm your guy, but I can take a look." He rose from his chair and went with the analyst back down the aisle. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Loki, Agent Loki." He held his hand out to Mobius to shake as they walked.

Mobius didn't hesitate to shake it. "Huh. Nice to meet you. You know, there's this guy on the Sacred Timeline with the name 'Loki,' too," he said, tilting his head. "A real troublemaker. You heard of them?"

"A couple times," Loki said, glancing over his shoulder behind them. "A real piece of work, if you ask me. We've gotten so many of their Variants recently."

"I know, that's what makes it cool. I mean, come on. How crazy do you have to be to keep branching like that?"

"Pretty crazy."

"Yeah." Mobius wondered why he hadn't met this analyst yet. He seemed like a nice guy. Easy to talk to. It was like they had already known each other for years or something. "So what's this thing I'm looking at?"

"It's, uh..." he looked around again. Mobius couldn't tell what he was looking for, but he didn't ask either. "I think there's a weakness in our strategy."

"A weakness? Like what?"

"A loophole. A way for Variants to hide on the Sacred Timeline without being detected. This way," he said, pointing Mobius down a hallway that was less crowded. 

"That's, that's impossible," Mobius argued. "Variants set off a Nexus event everywhere they go. You can't take five steps without creating a branch down there."

"Unless you know where to go," Loki explained, "and more specifically, when to go there. I know it sounds crazy, but I promise this will make sense."

Mobius shrugged. He wasn't sold on this yet, but that's why he was here, right? "Okay, so... what am I looking at?"

"I think it'd be easier if I showed you." He pulled a TemPad from his pocket and held it up. "May I?"

Well, that certainly didn't clear anything up, but he didn't object. Loki opened a time door and held a hand out. "After you."

"Do I need a field vest for this?"

"No, no need for that."

"...alright." This new guy was... interesting, to say the least. Maybe that's why he got transferred. Mobius walked through the door with no idea what to expect on the other side. 

He tried to ignore the growing headache he felt. It was like there was someone trapped in his head, banging on the wall separating them, screaming to be let out. To do something. It was all... muffled, and if Mobius was honest with himself (which he didn't let himself do) it had been going on for a while. It hadn't been this annoying until now, though. Maybe he needed to get it checked out. 

On the other side of the time door, Mobius found himself standing in Pompeii in the year 79 AD. He took a look around at the people milling about, all of whom were calm and unbothered and, most importantly, alive. Mount Vesuvius hadn't blown yet, but Mobius had a feeling it would soon. After all, there's only one reason why Pompeii was so important in the grand scheme of history. 

"I'll say this much, you definitely know how to pick tourists spots," Mobius said. Behind him, Loki stepped through the time door right before it closed. "Not sure what this has to do with your loophole theory, but-"

A hand grabbed his wrist. Anyone standing in front of Mobius would have seen his eyes begin to glow green. 

Loki exhaled, breathing a sigh of relief. Getting Mobius away from the TVA had been the risky part. Now that they were in an apocalypse, they were undetectable, but he could still feel his heart racing in his chest. Restoring B-15 and Casey's memory had been quick and easy, but for some reason, Loki couldn't just trust that it would work a third time. As long as he held on, though, as long as he didn't let go, there was hope. As soon as he retreated out of Mobius's mind, there was a chance that Mobius would still not know him and everything was about to fall apart.

But not yet. Not yet.

"Mobius," he said, his voice low despite the lack of present danger. "I hope you can hear me. I hope you're still in there, somewhere."

No response. There wouldn't be a response until Loki let go, but he couldn't yet. He couldn't let go of his hope yet.

"I don't know what they did to you," he went on, lowering his gaze. "I don't know how long it's been, but I'm almost sure it's been longer for you than it has been for me. All I know is that I found my way back. I'm back, Mobius." Loki let out another shaky breath. "We can try again. I don't know what we did wrong last time, but we can figure it out and fix it, but we need you back, Mobius. The others are back, too. B-15, Casey, O.B., they're all back again. We have another chance."

All he could do was stare at the back of Mobius's head, but it was better than looking him in the face and risk seeing an empty, blank, unrecognizing stare in return. "I hope you're still in there, somewhere. We need you back, Mobius." That wasn't it, though, was it? Not all of it. "I need you back. Please," he whispered closing his eyes. "Please, come back."

Moment of truth. Either pruning his own timeline was worth it for this exact moment, or everything was about to fall apart again, except maybe even worse than the first time.

Loki let go of his mind. He felt Mobius relax and regain control of his body, and he heard his breathing quicken and stagger. He couldn't look. If Mobius turned around and still didn't know him, he didn't know what he was going to do and he wasn't ready to face that reality yet. Loki looked down instead, and he slowly released Mobius's wrist.

Except Mobius was quicker than him. Just as Loki was about to pull his hand back, rough fingers caught his and clutched onto them. 

His hope was back, and it was shining all the brighter now. He looked up, daring to take a chance on hope.

He saw Mobius staring back at him, staring like he had just woken up from a nightmare. Staring like he was afraid. Staring like the world was crashing down around him (and in his head, it might as well have been) and he was looking at the last thing still standing. "Loki?"

"Mobius!"

And then everything was okay. It was impossible to tell if Loki pulled Mobius in for a hug or if Mobius pulled in Loki, but it didn't really matter in the end, did it? 

The wall separating Mobius's memory from his consciousness had been shattered the moment Loki enchanted him, but that also meant the screaming voice was let loose too. Along with a flood of memories crashing into place came the gut-wrenching realization of what all of it meant. His Nexus event. His sons, who were both gone along with his timeline. The memory wipe. The transition to being an analyst and... Mobius's eyes shot wide. The work. The targeting. The pruning. Hundreds of years of it.

"Mobius?"

I did that. I did it all over again.

His legs were buckling underneath him, and the only thing keeping Mobius upright was Loki, dropping to his knees so he could catch Mobius as he lost the ability to stand. Somehow, his hands still worked, and now he was gripping Loki's jacket in his fists so tightly he was half-dragging Loki down with him.

"Mobius, are you alright?"

"Oh, god," he mumbled, but it was only just beginning. "It happened again. All of it, all over again. The Sacred Timeline... it's back. It's all back, and nothing- nothing happened, we're all back at the beginning-"

"I know, it's okay-"

"They didn't do anything! They didn't even know and we just sent them to the End with nothing and we didn't care!"

"You couldn't have known, this isn't your fault-"

"I did."

The screaming was only getting louder. It wasn't just Mobius panicking internally (though that was certainly happening as well).

No. No, that was too easy.

"I knew," he said, just barely above a whisper. He pulled back off of Loki just enough so he could think. "I knew when I got back. I was punted right back to my Nexus event, right before it, and I knew it was coming. The Minutemen came in and I knew who they were, I knew what they were going to do."

The screaming wasn't just because Mobius realized what horrors he helped the TVA commit. It wasn't just because his mind was being flooded with memories of the previous loop. It wasn't just because they failed to modify the Time Loom before it overloaded and the TVA had been destroyed.

"They wouldn't listen. I tried to tell them we were all Variants but they wouldn't listen. I was trying to get back but I didn't know how and I didn't know where you were, nobody would listen to what I was saying, they wouldn't listen-!"

His only comfort in that moment was Loki, hugging him tightly and blocking out everything else, but not even that could silence the storm in his head. He knew. He knew what was happening as he was dragged before a judge-before RENSLAYER-and there was nothing he could do about it. The voice in his head wasn't just screaming.

It was mourning.

It was finally giving a voice to the last remnant of Mobius who knew what he had lost, who knew what the truth was, and who knew what was coming. It had been silenced for so long, but now it demanded to be heard.

I LOST MY FRIENDS! it shouted to the wind. No one heard it, but better to shout at nothing than to be eaten alive by it. I LOST THE ONLY CHANCE WE HAD TO SAVE THE MULTIVERSE! I LOST THE ONLY THING I KNEW, THE ONLY THING I HAD LEFT! I LOST MY BOYS AGAIN! MY SONS, THEY WERE SENT TO THEIR DEATHS AND ALL I COULD DO WAS WATCH! I LOST EVERYTHING I KNEW ABOUT THE TRUTH! I LOST MY MEMORY! I LOST MY COMPASSION FOR VARIANTS, I FORGOT THAT I WAS ONE! I LOST EVERYTHING I WAS FIGHTING FOR! I BECAME PART OF THE PROBLEM AGAIN AND I NEVER WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED BUT! I! KNEW!! I KNEW AND I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING!!!

Vesuvius might have blown up then and there but Mobius wouldn't have been able to move. His guilt gutted him, leaving his chest hollow like there was something missing. The TVA didn't just take his memory. It took away his understanding, his autonomy. It took away the fight from inside him, the desire to fix what was broken and hurt. I wasn't ME, Mobius finally realized. That was the worst part of it all. He had become a shell of the person he had become when the Time Loom overloaded.

What did I do?

The voice in his head, having finally been able to have their say, fell quiet, but the memories didn't. Everything he had done came back to him. All the Variants he had seen pruned, all the cases he had analyzed, all the timelines that had been destroyed... he saw all of it. 'I've seen the horror waiting for people when they get pruned, and there's nothing necessary about that.' Hadn't he said that? How could he have forgotten that? How could he... how could he have stood by and let that happen to anyone?

It was too late now. They were gone, or at best running around with a bunch of Loki Variants trying to dodge Alioth. Everything was back to the way it started. The TVA, the Sacred Timeline, and probably the Loom, it was all where it had been when they started putting the pieces together. All their work, all their sacrifices and their risk amounted to nothing in the end. Nothing had changed, no one had been saved.

Until now.

Loki had found his way back. No doubt, he had caused some mischief in order to retain his memory and masquerade as an analyst long enough to get Mobius here where the TVA couldn't detect them. They couldn't detect that Mobius had his memory back, and they definitely couldn't detect that Loki was hugging him, shielding him from the rest of the world.

He didn't know what Mobius was thinking, but he didn't have to. Mobius was shaking so hard that, if he hadn't been clinging onto Loki so tightly, it felt like he might fall apart at the seams. It was as if Loki was the only thing keeping him in one piece. Loki held still, grounding him like an anchor at sea (that was, if somehow the ocean could be inside the ship).

If he was honest, he needed to hold Mobius together as much as Mobius needed him to do the same. The TVA couldn't possibly notice them here, but that didn't alleviate the fear that someone would barge into 79 AD and rip the two of them apart again. If that happened, who knew how long it would be before they could regain their memory and find each other again. Loki didn't want to think about it, so he cradled Mobius's head with one hand and held him closer, hiding him from the powers that be. Don't take this from me. Not now. Not when I've just got him back.

Slowly, the shaking slowed. Mobius was still holding on, but it was less like a drowner holding onto a lifeline and more like a sailor hanging onto a mast. "It's okay," Loki whispered, hoping his voice would further ground Mobius in the present. "It wasn't your fault. They took that choice from you. This isn't your fault."

"But I knew," he cried, blinking away tears. "I knew it."

Loki wanted to erase all of Mobius's guilt, to relieve the pain of the truth, but he would have to take Mobius's memory again and he refused to do that. "I wish it wasn't true. I wish I could wipe it all away and tell you something better, but I can't. We couldn't stop it."

We couldn't stop it.

Saying it out loud made it real and irreversible, but it also made it seem a little smaller. They didn't do this. Mobius and Loki hadn't brought this to the multiverse willingly, and neither had any of their friends. They failed to stop it, but they tried. Oh, how they tried, and it hadn't been enough. Somehow, putting into words made it an easier reality to face.

No, they couldn't stop it, but now they knew. Now they could confront their failure and maybe, just maybe, do something about it.

Finally, finally, Mobius seemed to find some peace. The tension in his body slowly released, and he melted into the embrace. Loki bowed his head, shutting his eyes and just enjoying the touch, nothing else. Mobius was back. He was hurting and shaken, but he knew Loki again and that was enough for right now. Loki leaned his head against Mobius, and if he noticed that Loki's lips were brushing the side of his head, Mobius didn't say anything about it.

~

The solution to all stress was food. It was foolproof.

Pompeii fast-food restaurants looked nothing like their twenty-first century equivalents, but the owners let the strange men in strange clothes order and take a seat with only mild suspicion. It was the best Loki and Mobius could hope for, really.

The soup was decent too.

It kept them busy so speaking wasn't really necessary. The volcano still had a while before it was set to erupt, so neither of them were in a rush. Sitting together again felt so familiar, so mundane. How many times had they done this before?

Mobius was nearly done with his bowl when he finally asked, "I'm guessing you enchanted the Minutemen when they came to your timeline?"

Nodding, Loki scraped up the last of his soup. He had eaten fast than Mobius had. "B-15 was one of them again. When I saw her but she didn't recognize me, I realized what was happening. It was a last-ditch attempt. I still can barely believe it worked."

"So she's back too?"

"Yes. She's covering for my case. I assume she's going to make something up about how I was an unruly prisoner and she decided to prune me to save everyone the trouble."

"Did you manage to salvage your timeline?"

His face fell as he shook his head. "There was no way to protect it without raising suspicion. Of course, by that time, I had already done too much."

"What do you mean?"

"I panicked. I tried to explain what was about to happen to the Avengers before I realized what I was doing. Just telling them about the TVA and the multiverse was enough to cause a branch." Loki's eyes unfocused as he looked at the ground. "I gave them the Tessaract before we set the reset charge. Told them to stay away from Alioth. It was all I could do."

Mobius's face quickly adopted the same glazed-over look. "Yeah. I mean, who knows? It might be enough to give them a fighting chance."

"We'll know soon enough. If they do survive, I have a feeling we'll see them before long."

They fell into silence again. Loki was done with his meal, but he didn't make any motion to rise from his seat.

"I had kids."

Loki stared at Mobius, but his eyes were unfocused, staring off into space. "Two boys, little kids. Their mom was long gone, it was just us, and..."

He didn't need to go on. They were variants. They knew perfectly well what had happened to their timelines and everyone in it. If those children were pruned, they were gone.

"Did they understand what was happening?"

Mobius shook his head. "I told them to go in the house and close the curtains. Didn't want them to see it, but the Mintutemen said they were under arrest too."

"Even if you were the Variant?"

"That's what I tried to tell them. They were just kids, they had no idea what was wrong. They didn't even do anything. It was my Nexus event, not theirs, but they still..." Mobius sighed, shoving away the rest of his food.

They sat there for a moment, until suddenly, Mobius stood up without warning and walked off.

Loki blinked, then rose and followed him. "Mobius?"

No response. The restaurant staff, who had been trying to learn more about their strange guests but couldn't understand their language, watched one lead the other down the street, away from the center of town and out of sight. Oh, well. There went their free entertainment for the day.

"Mobius!" he called again, weaving around other people passing by. "Mobius, where are you going?"

"I don't know, anywhere!" he said defeatedly, throwing his hands up. "Not like it really matters, does it? Nothing matters in an apocalypse!"

He knew he wasn't going to get away from Loki, he could catch up eventually, but he needed to get away from... something. He had to. He couldn't bear to sit still because if he did that, he could hear his sons screaming for him to help them all over again.

Just as quickly as he had started, Mobius abruptly stopped walking in the middle of the street, his head hanging low. Loki just barely stopped in time, nearly plowing right into Mobius.

Pompeii moved all around them like a river coursing around a stone in the middle of the current. Smoke was rising in the distance. Loki and Mobius were in this world but not part of it, and if their suits didn't give that away, the distance between them and everyone else did. You might have thought they were on fire by how no one else was willing to come close to them.

Loki reached out and touched Mobius's arm lightly, just to tell him he was there. It helped. Mobius made half a turn, then finally spoke again: "How many times do you think we've done this?"

No answer came, but Mobius didn't wait for one. "How many times do you think I was held back while I watched my sons get pruned? How many times has B-15 pruned you? How many times has someone, maybe us, found the truth about the Timekeepers and He Who Remains?"

"You think it's a loop?" Loki asked. "Time isn't supposed to exist in the TVA."

"Then how did we end up back here?"

"Maybe when the Loom overloaded, it reset everything."

"How many times?" Mobius asked. "How many times has the Loom overloaded? How many times did the people who figured out the truth get reset and wiped? Or worse, pruned?"

"We can change that," Loki said, infusing as much certainty into his voice as he could. "You're back, I'm back, B-15 is back, and we'll find the others before long. We can skip the bit with the Timekeepers and be one step ahead this time."

"And then what? I mean, should we kill He Who Remains again, or will that just reset the loop again?"

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out."

"How? And what if we get it wrong?"

"We'll try again!"

"And then what?"

Loki searched his eyes for an explanation. "What do you mean?"

"What if we try again, and again, and again?" Mobius asked. He looked around at the street surrounding them, his shoulders falling. "What if this is it? What if there is no way to break the loop?"

"No," Loki said, mostly just being stubborn at this point. "No. I don't believe that. There is an ending to this, one where the multiverse is set free, and we're going to find it."

"But what if we don't?" Mobius asked. "What if you keep saying that we're going to find it and we keep coming back together and we keep trying something different but it ends the same every time? How long before something goes wrong?"

Loki grabbed Mobius and pulled him gently but firmly to an alley between two buildings. No one was watching them, but this wasn't for these people to see. They didn't need to listen to them worry in their last minutes.

"This has happened before," Mobius went on. "Maybe not with us, specifically, but this can't be the first time someone has gotten to the bottom of this whole mess. They probably tried to the same thing we did."

"But they're not us," Loki argued. "We were close. We were so close! If we can just figure out where we went wrong-"

"What if there is no right way?"

"Don't say that!"

"If it all gets destroyed anyway, then nothing matters, right? Just like in an apocalypse. One way or another, it all gets destroyed in the end. We get destroyed in the end. We're just going to lose over and over again, and I can't do it!"

"Mobius-"

"Losing the kids twice was bad enough. Losing you and all the others at the Loom was bad enough! How are we going to just keep doing this if we can't-"

Loki grabbed Mobius's shoulders and stared him straight in the face. "Maybe you're right!"

It was the only thing that stopped Mobius's spiral. Loki only said it so he would listen. Mobius couldn't give up, not now. Not when Loki had given up everything just to get him back.

"Maybe we're in an endless loop," Loki admitted. "Maybe we're trapped in this game with He Who Remains and we can never win and we're doomed to repeat this over and over and over again. I don't believe that," he said, pausing to make sure Mobius knew that much. "I don't believe it. There is an end to this and I'm going to keep fighting until we find it, but if this is a loop..."

Mobius was calm enough to listen now, but he was clinging to every last word Loki said. Was there any good in this? If anyone could find the light in a loop this dark and this terrible, Loki could, but was it even there? Had he found it?

"If this is a loop," Loki repeated, "if all we can do is resist but never win, if the Loom will overload and send us all back to the Sacred Timeline every single time, if we have to do this again, then this is the best part to play."

He tried to think, tried to find the words to say exactly what he meant, because without any explanation, it was insane. How could any part of a loop this horrific and constricting be 'the best part?'

Loki couldn't think of what he needed, and he was about to just blurt out something, but he looked at Mobius first, and that stopped him. This is the best part to play.

"It matters," he said. It was such a simple way to say something so important, but it was true. "It matters that we want to give people a chance to escape the fate of the Sacred Timeline. It feels pointless, because if all of this is just a loop, then it doesn't feel like anything we do will change the outcome, but it's not about that. It's, it's like an apocalypse. Nothing matters, right?" Somehow, Loki found himself echoing the same words he told Mobius the first time they came to Pompeii, but oh, how time had changed the meaning. "In a few minutes, all of this will be gone. All of these people, everything they care about, all gone. That's what every apocalypse does, and that's why the TVA can't detect anything that happens here, so nothing matters."

"Yeah, except when someone finds a way to use an apocalypse as a smoke screen for something bigger," Mobius pointed out. At least he was calm enough to make quips again. "It doesn't stop the apocalypse, but it mattered to us."

"Exactly. It was still destroyed in the end, but it still mattered."

He looked down. He didn't know how to make this make sense, but it did to him. Loki relaxed his arms, but he didn't let go of Mobius's shoulders. Mobius didn't seem to mind that.

"If this is all a loop," he started again, "if nothing we do can stop He Who Remains, and if all we can do is delay the inevitable, then we're just cogs in a machine we can't change. There are parts to play, and if we don't try to do something, someone else will eventually, and it will all just happen anyway. Either we can pretend like we don't know anything and hope for the best, or we can fight the hopeless fight. We can resist He Who Remains and try to give people free will and a chance to live outside the Sacred Timeline, and we can fight for the TVA agents who have already lost everything. That fight, even if we can never win it, matters. It matters," Loki insisted. "It matters that we choose to fight for something better than what is. If we have to be part of this loop, then I would rather be part of the side that stands for hope and freedom. I would rather go through this loop a thousand times and lose over and over again than be part of the problem."

Mobius let his gaze fall. He had been part of the problem. Not willingly, but he had, and so had B-15, and Casey, and everyone else at the TVA. He could go back and just go through the motions again, but what kind of person would that make him?

Loki wasn't done. "I would rather us be sabotaged by Renslayer than to follow her. I would rather us take chances on Variants like Timely than trust He Who Remains. I would rather us brainstorm and plan and fail than to not try at all. I would rather us work together, knowing that we trust each other and that we're fighting for something worthy of a fight, and lose it in the end than not have it to begin with. I would rather risk coming here to get you back, and to get all our friends back again, and watch that Loom overload and start all over again than to not have come back again. This is the best part to play," he said, and Mobius looked up again. "Our part."

Our part. The part where they cared more about actual, real people than they cared about a bureaucracy and fake gods. The part where they had their real memories and real friendships and were allowed to mourn those for the lives that no longer were. The part where, even if branches were dying, their conscience was clear. The part where they were allowed to choose which side to stand on in this war on loop. 

The part where they faced the death of hundreds, if not thousands, of branches together. The part where they hunted down traitors like X-5 and Dox together. The part where they faced the destruction of the TVA together. The part where they knew what was coming but at least they would do it together.

Maybe that last bit wasn't what Loki meant, but it was reason enough for Mobius. That screaming voice in his head was out now, content now that it knew Loki knew he knew who Loki was. Everything was set right again. Loki was back, having managed to evade the TVA's attempts to prune him in true Loki fashion, and Mobius was his entire self again. Sure, if the Loom blew again, they'd have to start all over, and everything hinged on the hope that Loki would find a way to restore Mobius's memory before something bad happened, but that wasn't going to happen yet, right? They had time. It was running out, but it wasn't gone yet. 

He breathed out, just barely nodding. It would be one thing if Mobius didn't remember what happened before the Temporal Loom destroyed itself, or if he had been captured or killed or something worse. This was an entirely other thing, though. They had a chance to restore the Multiverse, to free the timelines, and protect billions of innocent lives. Doing anything else now wouldn't just be ignorance but malice. Mobius wasn't malicious, and he wasn't heartless either. He was going to fight this fight, pointless or not. He couldn't, in good conscience, do anything else. The slim hope that maybe it would work this time was enough reason to try.

But damn it if the friends he made along the way didn't give him more reasons to do something pointless anyway. 

It hurt. Knowing he couldn't save his timeline hurt. Knowing he had condemned his world by intentionally causing a Nexus event hurt. Dooming his sons to a terrifying death hurt. Knowing he could yell and shout at the other TVA agents that they were Variants too to no avail hurt. Having his memory erased really hurt. Realizing what he had done after the mind-wipe hurt worst of all. He hung his head just thinking about it. 

The other memories, though, the kind, warm memories of light banter and soda-drenched salads and running from cloud monsters and supporting each other through tense meetings and troubleshooting time-slipping and crashing movie premieres and key lime pie and mischievous plans and Cracker Jack and arguing over tiny little figurines... that was worth it. Even if they couldn't win a doomed war, wasn't it all worth it for moments like that? They had already lost their timelines. If for nothing else, didn't they have to fight for the one life they had left? 

He ought to say something. Loki was right, even if it was such a bleak destiny to resign to. Mobius opened his mouth to say something, but before any sound could come out, he felt Loki's forehead touch his, just barely. He could have just bumped it by accident if neither of them knew better. 

Mobius pressed his forehead into the touch, and that seemed to say whatever it was he was thinking for him. I'm in this,he might have said. It's going to hurt, but I'm not backing out. I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but as long as I can hold your hand in the dark, I'm in this.

That was a good place to stay for a while. 

The bustle of Pompeii seemed to quiet around them, like someone was turning down the volume control to the world. The quiet assurance that they were going to face whatever waited for them back at the TVA together made it easier to accept. Mobius still had a gut-wrenching fear that everything was still doomed to fail, but it didn't seem so intimidating right now. They had faced it once before, after all, and so had others before them in previous loops. He had been arrested and memory-wiped and conditioned and persuaded and pruned and betrayed and nearly had his skin ripped off and provoked to lose control and blown back to the Sacred Timeline only to repeat at least part of that process, but he had still made it this far. If he had to chose, he'd rather go through it all again with Loki than by himself. If he was doomed to be part of this loop, then he wasn't going to play his part alone. 

Somehow, Loki still had shining hope that there was an end to this. Mobius didn't have that hope, despite all that he wished he did, but he did have Loki. As long as they were still willing to try, whether it would change the outcome or not, this was the best part to play. Their part. "Our part," he finally said out loud. 

A deep rumbling in the distance interrupted the moment quite rudely. Unfortunately, they were still in Pompeii, and unfortunately, Mount Vesuvius was still set to erupt right about now.

"I think that's our cue," Mobius said, if not a bit disappointed.

"B-15 is going to grab Casey, and then we'll all go downstairs and find O.B.," Loki explained, but he didn't pull away. The Pompeii residents were beginning to scream and run, but the two of them still hadn't moved.

Right, the others. Mobius's friends. All of them. "Okay, and then what?"

"Then we do whatever it takes to stay under the radar until we can come up with a plan," Loki assured him, "preferably one that Renslayer doesn't know about."

"Oh, shit."

Loki smiled. "I see you remember that as well."

"I do now. What about Miss Minutes?"

"We'll figure it out," he promised. "We have another chance at this. We have time."

Mobius nodded, and they really had to go now. Loki finally let go of his shoulders, reaching into his pocket for a TemPad. His other hand drifted down, prepared to keep Mobius in front of him just in case the volcano blast moved faster than they wanted, but Mobius grabbed it instead.

They had time. They had time to come up with a plan, they had time to do it right this time, but they also had time for them. Mobius was sure there was more to say, more they hadn't quite gotten out before Vesuvius blew, but they would have time for it later. Explaining why they had become such good friends in such a short period of time would be interesting to say the least, but that was their part to play.

With one last look behind them, Mobius and Loki walked through the time door Loki had summoned, back into the hallway they had left not long ago.

"Well, I'd say you're definitely onto something," Mobius said, half-startling Loki. "We're gonna need a lot more evidence though. Something this big needs proof."

Oh, right. Their cover. "I know you must be busy with other cases, but can you spare some time for this?"

"Yeah, I think I can make that work." For a split second, Loki saw a knowing, dare he say mischievous, smile return to Mobius's face. In that moment, it was rather easy to pretend they were back at the beginning again with no knowledge of a greater plot or a Time Loom or fake Timekeepers or anything beyond the TVA and the Sacred Timeline.

Hopeless as their part might be, but that didn't mean they couldn't get their fun where and when they could. Mobius was still holding onto Loki's hand, not willing to separate again so soon.

I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, but as long as I can hold your hand in the dark, I'm in this. This is our part, and this is the best part to play.

#lokius #loki series #loki season 2 #loki #mobius #loki x mobius

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

B-15's Backstory: Incoherent Thoughts

Because I'm still not over this, and not likely to be over this any time soon. I've been sending my friend near constant stream-of-consciousness texts about this all day. Now you get to deal with it. Headcanons, theories, reactions, etc. Spoilers for Loki episode 2x05 and probably Loki: Agent of Asgard.

I'm literally just typing up my texts about B-15/Verity, so they really are incoherent/stream-of-consciousness. I'm not kidding when I say I've been thinking about her all day. I'm aware this is almost certainly just an easter egg, but my brain does not work that way when I get a hint of something I love.

She found him before Mobius did. She's been with him all along!!!

Besides Sylvie he loses her last in episode five. ;.; She finds him first in 1x01, and she's the last agent he loses in 2x05.

If Tom Hiddleston does not say "Verity" at some point in episode six I won't know what to do with myself. Then again if he does, I'm going to have to pause the episode to cry for twenty minutes.

I wrote this TWO WEEKS AGO. A part of me knew.

I complained about Loki not being on my birthday month for my calendar but IT'S VERITY I'M OKAY WITH IT. [The thing draped over her is a palm from Palm Sunday. It's the only place in my apartment it's able to hang.]

Oh my god if B-15 is not outright confirmed to be able to detect lies in the next episode I'm gonna ignore everything the writers try to tell me and I'm going to do a whole rewatch explicitly to catalog all of her interactions and assess if I can conclude that she has this power in the MCU. She already only needed Sylvie to tell her to her face that Sylvie didn't create C-20's memories and she believed her.

Personally I want that scene from the mid-season trailer where Loki's like "I'm a fast learner" and everyone else just takes him at his word, but then I want B-15 to be like '...This boi's acting sus.' And everyone else gets to work, and she pulls him aside and is like, "What are you up to?" And he's like, "Nothing." And she's like, "I know you're lying." Basically if someone (Loki) says something in the episode that I know as a viewer is a lie and they do a fairly decent job of acting convincing (none of this over-the-top terrible lying bullshit to really drive home to the audience that they're lying), and B-15 says the words "I know you're lying," I'm sold. I won't rewatch everything to figure it out. I'll be convinced she can detect lies.

No but Sylvie and B-15 becoming ride or die bffs, no romance, like Loki and Verity are in the comics would give me LIFE.

I've come up with another way they can imply B-15 can detect lies next episode. If at some point Loki just starts telling his friends about their lives on the timeline instead of doing the memory magic, and he turns to OB and goes, "You... are a brilliant writer." And B-15 is in the frame, and she doesn't say anything, either in that moment or as an aside to Loki, but she just twitches a little at the lie. I'll lose my fucking mind. If that and the one season one interaction with Sylvie is all we get as implicative confirmation, I'll fucking take it. My girl can detect lies. Sold. Done.

[Not really a headcanon or anything, but just to show you I'm a fool irl too] Also I came in, [my dad] said, "Hi, what's up?" And I said, "B-15 is Verity Willis." And then I grinned like a lunatic even though he has no clue who Verity is and I know he has no clue who Verity is.

We currently do not have any evidence that B-15 is not ace, so Verity is still 100% ace in the MCU, too.

#loki #loki tv show #loki season 2 #loki season 2 spoilers #loki theories #loki comics #b-15 #please is it too early to tag her still #i know i KNOW it's an easter egg and that's probably it but i just don't care #i just love her and i've wanted her here for a long time #so i'll take what i can get even if it's crumbs okay #seriously between this and the shocking accuracy of my pre-ep fic #you are all getting a front row seat to how marvel breaks my brain for good #if we get the Coat next week it was nice knowing you

[leos-regression-cove]

I'm working on pov and trying not to head-hop as I write (because until now it's just been me, the narrator, telling the story without character voice (with some exceptions)) but I'm not too sure if I'm doing it right yet. The upcoming chapters of TNL are mostly from Sylvie and Mobius' perspectives but still in third person and (mostly) alternate with double line spaces.

Right now I'm just sort of reading over what I write in their (adult) first person voices and editing word choices accordingly but idk if that's a good method.

During Mobius' narrations, words are simplified, Americanized, and descriptions are pretty short (adverbs are cut. Adjectives are simple and surface level).

Sylvie on the other hand uses more British phrases, includes adjectives, adverbs, and tends to pick up on more of her surroundings.

I think the main difference between writing her and writing for Loki's voice is that Loki tends to ascribe metaphorical adjectives to objects, while Sylvie, although perceptive, doesn't. She also keeps things snappy and direct. Both her and Mobius do, and I am not that type of writer, so I'm trying really really really hard to make a balance there.

I think Loki goes for more poetic, dramatic and emotional, Sylvie's text is "realism" (to her) and describes exactly what is happening, Mobius is purely informational and just gives you the important (or really interesting) bits, and Thor... I'm not sure about Thor.

I don't tend to write a lot from his perspective (I say as I have a fic that's like half dedicated to that...) but I think he's kind of like a mix of Mobius and Sylvie. He's not very perceptive so he doesn't give you a lot of sensory details about his surroundings (not that Mobius isn't perceptive. He's a detective. But I think he's got a good eye for filtering information while Sylvie just takes everything in constantly), but when something catches his eye I think he can get really into it. We see this in the Team Thor shorts when he's describing monster battles to a group of preschoolers. So I think that's kind of what I'm going to end up doing for him? But I'm not sure yet. I'd really like more ideas of how to differentiate his tone from Loki or Sylvie's while still maintaining third person close narration.

I don't want my prose/writing style to feel boring or monotonous, which is my main worry, so I think using voice in this way could be really great, but also, I'm really nervous that by varying the detail surroundings are described in (since I'm already bad at that) could make it worse? Long and flowery descriptions put people off, but so can really simple ones because they can feel unnecessary and a total lack of description isn't ideal either.

So idk any ideas? Maybe ideas about things to add or change about my voice headcanons? Or clues on perspectives and descriptions?

#rambles #fandom ramblings #agere fic inspo #free write

[waterhorseyblues-ao3]

I posted 110 times in 2022

That's 110 more posts than 2021!

58 posts created (53%)

52 posts reblogged (47%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@waterhorseyblues-ao3

@wolfpup026

@mischievousscampzine

@andypantsx3

@textsfromthetva

I tagged 100 of my posts in 2022

Only 9% of my posts had no tags

#rambling - 19 posts

#fanfic - 15 posts

#gifictag - 14 posts

#fanfiction - 13 posts

#loki - 10 posts

#ftpfictag - 9 posts

#wolfpup026 - 9 posts

#ask - 8 posts

#an-asgardian - 7 posts

#nano teaser - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#anyway if youve ever left a comment on my works i am kissing you on the head i am tucking you in bed i am making your lunch for tomorrow

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

To most, it wouldn't mean much. In this country, it really held no power at all. But to anyone who knew, the implications it held were immense. Whoever had broken into his apartment knew exactly what it was.

Loki x Mobius Detective AU X

16 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

#4

“I brought him to speak to you.” He reached out and caught Adam, who was perusing some unlabeled bottles, by the shoulder, and pulled him around to face the devil. Adam frowned and shrugged him off, then looked directly up at Lucifer with his usual unphased expression.

"Ah." Lucifer looked the boy up and down. "You. Yes. I remember. You're not my son."

"Nah. My dad's back in England." Adam replied.

"Hm. Yes." The devil turned his attention to his brother. "Did you think you'd won something by showing me this child?"

"You may reject your post, but cannot really reject your own son, Luci," Amenadiel implored.

"I didn't. He did all the rejecting himself, didn't you?"

"I've already got a dad. He's at work, probably."

"Actually, we're on quite a different time zone, so he's probably still asleep." Wensley interjected.

"Oh yeah. He's probably asleep." 

"There you are." Lucifer turned back to the piano. "No son, no hell, no devil. You can leave."

"I'm not leaving. It is imperative you take up your position in hell once more."

"Is it? Or do you just believe everything daddy tells you?"

Amenadiel bristled. "Your play time on earth must end. The balance must be restored and hell must have its devil. That is your role, Luci."

"I don't see why he has to do it." 

The devil and angel both turned to look at Adam. 

"I mean. Why does any of that have to be the way? I thought the whole point was that we can decide stuff for ourselves."

"My mum says you shouldn't work in a toxic environment," Pepper added. "And Hell sounds pretty toxic to me."

"Ahh, they do have some sense in them." Lucifer beamed. "There we go, brother, it's as they say. I am deciding this for myself."

17 notes - Posted November 7, 2022

#3

“You say Lucifer directed you here?”

“Yeah. Seems like everyone here knows him. They gave me a spot to lie down.”

Dream sighed, looking agitated. “Then perhaps I owe him a favour. We had better make good use of this, then.”

“You’re telling me! So what’s the plan? Can you magic me back into being a raven?”

“I don’t have that sort of power. Only the dead may become dreams.”

“So, what, I’ve gotta die? I’ve gotta go kill myself to become a raven again?”

Dream fell silent. He gazed at Matthew with an expression he’d never seen the Endless make. It was one of a profound sadness, mingled with something else he couldn’t decipher. It was as though he had admitted to some deeply unfortunate situation in life to someone who felt unbearable sympathy.

“You would throw away your second chance at life just to be part of the dreaming?”

Matthew blinked. The soft, husky tone of Dream’s voice took him completely off guard. The person who always spoke so carefully, so clearly, who radiated such an intimidating, ancient aura, expressing such raw emotion seemed completely out of line with the image he’d built in his head of the Endless.

“Well… Yeah! I had a shitty life, and I was a pretty shitty person. Being your raven was the best thing to happen to me. I’m not giving that up.”

Dream did not reply for a while. This seemed to trouble him. 

“Look. I don’t care for people, or the Waking, or any of this. I’ve got friends in The Dreaming. It’s my home. I don’t wanna lose that!”

Finally, Dream nodded. “Yes. It has indeed become a home to you.”

19 notes - Posted November 15, 2022

#2

WHB’s Guide To “Non-Canon” & One-Shot Comic Loki Content

This won’t be in any real order because it doesn’t matter and also there’s DEFINITELY more I haven’t read that I’ll come back to at a later date maybe

Loki (2004) - This is very beautifully painted and explores the idea of (classic) Loki winning and how he copes on the throne of Asgard, but I found it pretty slow and dry. There’s some good emotional complexity in it though.

Loki (2010) - This is just a retelling of existing Norse myth with a Marvel skin over it. I genuinely think if you wanna read Norse mythology then there’s much better versions of it and this doesn’t add much more to make it fit comic Loki’s character. Check it out if you think this suits you best.

Thor & Loki: Double Trouble - This is a banger. It’s one of my favourite artists over 100% pure goofs and gaffs and japes and jonks. This is all Loki and Thor sibling spats and presents us with possibly the MOST amazing take on Loki’s character design by having him be just a little guy. Goblin mode fully activated. Very fun.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl - Okay, some will argue this is canon, others will argue it’s not. For the most part, USG does not follow Marvel 616 canon but imho this makes it way more accessible to new readers. This comic is a fucking DELIGHT. I cannot recommend USG enough. USG’s take on Loki is such a campy, dramatic, mischevous scamp full of sillies and I LOVE them. I could write essays about USG. I’m shaking this comic series in your face. I’m kissing it.

Now, some of this DOES overlap with canon events running at the time. A brief period of the USG comics covers the War of the Realms arc when Loki is Sorcerer Supreme, though I... coulda sworn those weren’t happening at the same time... This is basically the only part that has canon timeline in it and it treats Loki a million times better than the other comics at the time did. Also one of the characters introduced in this series appears in Thor (2020) so it does have multiple ties to the main canon.

If Im not selling it enough, THIS comic series is where the “This is why you get a genderfluid demigod to be your fashion designer” panel came from.

Also this series introduces some AMAZING new characters, all of which appear in the podcast The Unbeatable Radio Show which takes place just after the comics. If you want more help knowing the reading order for this comic series specifically, DM me and I will help you out.

Alligator Loki - This is as it says on the tin. It’s one of the new Marvel webtoons about gator Loki having some adventures. It’s silly and entirely visual and it’s very fun.

Marvel Voices: Pride (2022) - There were TWO Loki comics in this year’s issue. One is tied to the Young Avengers comics (a personal favourite of mine) and the other set in Loki’s current situation. Both of them are very funny and silly and full of Loki being his best self.

Thor (2020) - But didn’t I list this as canon? Yes! However there’s a handful of one-shot comics in this series. Issue #25 has another Marvel skin on a Norse myth, “Thor’s Wedding”,  which in my opinion is much better than Loki (2010) ever did and it’s extremely funny and silly, an absolute hoot.

 Marvel Voices: Iceman - Another of the webtoons. Loki pops up in #3 and is an absolute treat. I recommend reading all of this tbh because it’s fun and very gay.

There’s also TWO Loki novels!

Loki: Mistress of Mischief

Loki: Where Mischief Lies

I’m yet to read either of these but I will update and report back when I have

21 notes - Posted September 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

WHB’S Guide To The Loki (616) Comic Canon So You Don’t Have To Slog Through It Like I Did

The chaos, mischief and hijinks Loki gets up to in the Marvel comics run as long and complex as the Thor comics ever did, so for simplicity this starts at the Loki “rebirth” which is where Loki became more of an independent character with his own role to play in the ongoing 616 canon. I will make a separate post for “non-canon” and oneshots and generally good comic Loki content that isn’t part of this arc.

diclaimer: i am Very opinionated and also prone to hyperbolic language so i may insult a comic/arc that you like. it is important that you Deal With It and move on because i cannot and will not be swayed.

“Classic Loki” dies during the Siege (2009) arc, specifically Siege #4. I don’t recommend it as reading personally and if you’re not already reading Marvel, it’ll be confusing and boring to follow. Things to know: Loki cut a deal with Hela to have his name taken from the book of Hel. He caused some Issues and Problems that went way overboard and is killed in the battle.

BEGIN THE KID LOKI STORY:

Thor #617-#619 (2010) - Thor finds the reborn child-aged Loki in Paris using the name “Serrure” (”Lock” in Fench.). Generally recommend this for context reading and understanding Loki’s character “rebranding”

Journey into Mystery #622-645 (2011) - Sometimes referred to as Loki: Journey Into Mystery, this is the bulk of the Kid Loki storyline and spans several story arcs in the Marvel comics at the time. Heavily recommend for understanding of the rest of Loki’s character arc, as well as adorable Thor & Loki sibling stuff and Loki’s goofy little way of talking. The final issues of this storyline are necessary reading for every major Loki storyline after.

 The Mighty Thor vol.2 (2011) - some of this happens in tandem to Journey into Mystery. If you’re not super into the Thor comics, this isn’t that important, but it helps inform the events of JiM while you’re reading it. There’s some good sibling stuff and Loki generally being a bit of a scamp, but there’s a lot going on that ties to other major Marvel story arcs at the time that can make this a bit confusing to read.

Fuck Exiled (2012) it doesn’t fucking matter.

Young Avengers (2013) - THE comic!!!! This is prime Kid Loki into Adult Loki content. This is where we got the contemporary Loki design from. This shits gay as hell, it’s full of friendship and drama and Loki shennanigans and I honestly cannot recommend this comic enough. If you never read another Marvel comic, read Young Avengers.

Loki: Agent of Asgard (2014) - OBVIOUSLY THIS ONE! Lots of people made the mistake of reading this on its own without understanding who Loki is in this comic. So much of Loki’s character development in this story hinges on the last issues of JiM. Read the others first THEN this, and you’ll thank me. This one has GORGEOUS art and completely re-shaped Loki’s character for the future Marvel comics. It also spans several major comic arcs at the time, so prepare for more external reading.

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS (2014) - This is a LOT to cope with if you’re not already into the comics, as it has a HUGE cast and a lot of major plots running at the same time. I honestly skimmed this just for bits of my fav characters. Loki appears on only a few, I believe #6-#8. Only read if you’re really interested in the context of the events in AoA.

Loki & Thor: Original Sin (2014) - I am holding this story arc in my hands. I am kissing it. This is PRIME fem!Loki content. This is ICONIC genderfluid Loki matrial. This is PURE fucked up dysfunctional Asgard-fam content. I love this comic series very much for it’s writing and artwork and beautiful moments and please don’t say a mean thing about it or I will cry.

More Loki content happens in Mighty Thor vol.3 (2016). I personally don’t think it’s relevant or necessary reading.

Fuck Vote Loki. Me and the homies hate Vote Loki. MCU will trick you and make you think Vote Loki might be good. It’s not.

The Infinity Quest arc doesn’t do anything useful for Loki imho. It’s one of the many comics in Loki’s current writing that feels like the writers haven’t read any of his previous arc.

Loki: Sorcerer Supreme (2017) - aka Doctor Strange #381-385. Imho the most wasted potential arc they’ve written so far. There’s like One nugget of very good Loki character content and the rest is just a huge waste of time. Would only recommend if you’re feeling comitted to reading as much of the Loki arc as you can.

Personally I think the entire Final Host arc is a complete misuse of Loki given his character development up until then and it simply doesn’t do anything for him.

Infinity Wars Prime (2018) - this is a bit of a Marmite arc. I think it’s setting up for Loki (2019) but it’s very tedious and bland and once again wastes the potential of the multiverse. Good only for ponytail Loki. It may be relevant in the future.

The War of the Realms (2019) - This has a LOT going on, but Loki’s part of this is very integral to how Loki is currently in the canon. This overlaps a little with Thor vol.5

Loki (2019) - This is.... Probably going to be relevant one day. It’s fun dialogue but honestly I truly do not care for this. It’s very slow paced and adds nothing to Loki’s character arc that AoA hadn’t already done. It’s a bit useful for understanding the way Loki has referred to himself since, but tbh... Meh.

Thor (2020) - This places Loki very much where he is Right Now in the canon and his current role. This is the point from which comics will pick up on his story arc, and also takes us back to the end of AoA.

Defenders (2022) - This picks up IMMEDIATELY after the final page of AoA. This is probably going to patch up a few of the issues I’ve had with previous story arcs, so I’m holding out! So far it is a banger.

96 notes - Posted September 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #long post #WHY DID IT POST FULL TEXTPOSTS THDHGGUGDFHFD #anyway i am once again asking that if anyone read any of these comics then feel free to chat to me about them #i will uuhhh try to make more graphics or something

[maguro13-2]

War of Shadow Realm ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Chapter 4 Pt.2 ~

"Back on the Space Colony ARK..."

[Space Junk Road - Mahito Yokota]

Ashley : You know, Penny. Back in my early as a detective, I always imagined that me and Kimial used to look at the stars and they were many of them. Countless lights across the universe that shines so bright. I wonder we would watch the stars together.

Penny Crygor : That's right. As a scientist, I looked at the many stars from the cosmos and then there were shooting stars I wished for, come to think of it, we do come to the same level before as we all know it.

Ashley : I bid you a gratitude of my ways, thinking I'm into boys and girls like you all the time,

Penny Crygor : You just wanted to say that in a fairly manner, let me tell me something. Do you believe that stars are connected as one that make a constellation?

Ashley : Oh yes. There is one thing that connects one star and the star, each stars that has each of their names, and one has a special meaning to them. Polaris, known as the north star. It has always part of one constellation that what people didn't know, Ursa minor, commonly known as the Little Dipper.

Penny Crygor : Wow I guess that you can say that Big Dipper and Polaris reminds of one place that I've known about, it's called Alaska. Say, why don't we return to earth and look at the stars as well?

Kimial Diehl : Jacqueline, now that you have my attention, did you really think that I feel like that heart wouldn't be torn to pieces? I'm no different than any girl that I wanted to be me, but I'm a witch that works for the forve . I'm no human warrior of justice or anything, I'm not the Meister that I wanted to be. I'm only a girl that cares anything but my people. I wasn't really into boys, I was...I was coming clean and just wanted to say that I'm really into girls. Nobody understands to me that why was I even interested in boys like this?

Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre : . ....I understand that, Kimial. The thing is...that I was never into boys, and I was totally not even hetero. I feel like that I went alone in my hometown of Quebec, with my brother. I thought I was into guys like them, but I was mostly into girls, all the time. Sometimes that I may not know about them, but I had friends back home with me that knows about me. More importantly, it's wisely that you think I know alot about you. You being hero of your hometown, me being one, a hero of my hometown that I was once was before. I just wanted to be the same as you. I'm no weapon, I'm no tool to the devil. I'm only human that does not concern about my actions for that the bad things. I just wanted to save lives.

Kimial Diehl : [her face blushes red] Jacqueline...I know how that feels.

Grim (Metal Sonic) : [looking out the window, with his arms folded] Demon Vibe...your days of ruling the Shadow Realm will be over, once we defeat the grandson of the Kusakabe which you have been controlling. The only reason that the gods of Mobius gave me the opportunity of being the mobian death God that lived in Sonic's world since ancient times. But that Shinigami faker, Shotaro. The dokeshi who thought himself as Shinigami himself, the devil's man-made son. Soon, Death Weapon Meister Academy and his entire city will nothing be a pile of ashes in space, once Neo Metal plans on destroying it.

Ashley : As much were in the space colony without any food or water, there's nothing much out there in the cold reaches of space. It's best that we all survive here while there are signs of life. (Hears footsteps approaching) Hey, do you hear that?

Kimial Diehl : What, Ash?

Ashley : Someone's coming.

[Tension - TAI-HEY]

Penny Crygor : I bet it's enemy movements tracking down on the colony's map. But there's one person that arrived here. You sure it's not Death Weapon Meister Academy spies or one of Shinra's?

Ashley : Whatever it is. This could be an ambush by the assassin.

Penny Crygor : An Assassin?

Ashley : It's the perpetrator. We need to prepare an ambush to encounter the enemy at once. Be prepared!

Grim (Metal Sonic) : Roger.

Kimial Diehl : I hope this one's going in the bag.

Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupre : Come on out, you righteous son of b*tch. I dare you to come.

(Door opens automatically)

Ashley : Now!

[DBZ SFX : SURPRISE!]

Ashley : Alright, freeze! This Majo Detective Ashley! Put your hands up where I can see them!

Orbulon : Woah! Woah! Ashley, Penny, friends! simmer down! I'm not going to hurt you or anything!

*Bamboo Bonk*

Ashley : Huh? Wait a sec...

*BOING*

[Event : Team Chaotix - Jun Senoue]

Penny Crygor : What's Orbulon doing here in the Space Colony ARK?

Ashley : Orbulon, you called?

Orbulon : I just wanted to get the distress call from you guys, but you had some trouble with the service. So I had the crew and the others join on the ride to this abandoned space station.

Kat & Ana : What's up, Ashley!

9-Volt : We heard that you disappeared on that space station!

18-Volt : It's everywhere on the news!

Mona : My guess is concerning that you are actually a detective and no one believed it? Guess you used to be a hero like wario does before you came to the company.

Master Mantis : Ashley, a once known detective and great asset to the Super Mario Universe.

Ashley : You have my word, old man. I get your point tho.

Young Cricket : Ms Ashley. [In Ashley's Visio, Cricket is dressed as a prince] Are you okay, my dear?

Ashley : I...I...I'm fine! You sure not hurt or anything?

Young Cricket : No, not at all.

Wario : Where have you been, Ashley? We've been worried about you and everyone was waitingn

Ashley : Mr. Wario! You arrived to the space colony as well?

Wario : Of course, girly! We all made it safely and we got inside to weird space station that was abandoned 50 years ago. Luckily, the soul losers of soul world are not smart that were on a space colony that is way over the planet! Not to mention to they took Orbulon's space ship, but we were Carried by this woman that knows abouts stars and galaxies. It's a Princess, she's new to the super Mario Universe.

Ashley : Princess that knows about stars, what is that Peach, daisy, Zelda? Or that princess who was turned into a cat that kissed you in the end of wario land 4?

Kimial Diehl : But I do know someone who's new. Mario said that a princess that knows about the stars when Bowser wanted to rule galaxies and conquer. Where he took his son to space.

Ashley : Then, who could that be?

[Comet Obversatory 3 - Koji Kondo]

??? : That is correct, Ashley. That would be definitely me by the way. And it's not just that took the

(Luma appears in front of Ashley)

Ashley : Yikes!

Penny Crygor : A luma? You wouldn't mean that must be...

(Rosalina appears teleporting)

Wario : Oh yeah, I forgot something to introduce you to the super Mario Universe. Warioware, meet Rosalina, protagonist of Super Mario Galaxy. AKA princess of the stars.

Rosalina : Well, quite certainly. I heard that the school from that fictional manga that was teleported into space. I believe that a robot used such power to bring the school and the city itself outside the planet. Hope there were any survivors on that school. You must be, Ashley the witch, and...

Kimial Diehl : I'm Kimial Diehl, Ashley's partner in law. You must be the one that Mario knew about since he first met.

Rosalina : Correct. I've bet you two heard about the stars as well, do you?

Penny Crygor : Of course! I've found out where that shooting star that floats into space, that would be you, right!?

Rosalina : Of course, all of them are safe on the Comet Obversatory, the same place that orbited around Mario's world around 100 years ago.

Ashley : Hmm? Are you sure that everyone is on ship? That Obversatory that oribited in Mario World's for around 100 years? (Outside the colony is the Comet Obversatory) Woah. Guess it does looks like a space ship. You live there?

Rosalina : Actually, I only visit between Mario's world and the Obversatory. If you like to know much about the Obversatory, then come with me.

Ashley : Okay, sure. Lead the way.

Penny Crygor : This is very interesting.

Grim (Metal Sonic) : I do mind fly to the Obversatory, but seems not a bad place to me. Time to check out that place. (Rosalina walks off as the group walks after her)

~ Fifty-First Scene : Princess of the Galaxy! ~

#super Mario bros #super mario galaxy #warioware #sonic the hedgehog #soul eater #fire force #Ashley #penny crygor #kimial diehl #jacqueline o'lantern dupre #princess rosalina #metal sonic #Nintendo #sega #square enix #crossover #drama #dark comedy #horror #mystery #thriller #supernatural #dark fantasy #science fiction #adventure #action

[tricksters-captain]

Mobius M Mobius / Loki Series Imagines - This is your fault.

AN: This is all I can think about at the moment so I hope you enjoy it...

Summary: Mobius needs your help but tries to sneak behind some of the TVA’s members back to do so... When you’re both stuck hiding from your coworkers... Things become unexpectedly heated

Pairing(s): Mobius M Mobius x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2,469

Warnings: No Spoilers, Smut, vaginal fingering, unprotected sex, praising, dominant Mobius, semi public sex

“Heyy, there’s the person I was looking for!” Mobius’ voice came up behind you as you sat at your desk. You turned your head to see Mobius lean down and place his hand on the partition surrounding your cubicle, his other hand finding the back of your chair.

“What do you want, Mobius?” You couldn’t help but feel the corner of your lip turn up at the appearance of the man.

“Why’d you say it like that? Aren’t you pleased to see me?” Mobius pouted at your lack of enthusiasm. The truth was you were happy to see him. You had crushed on the man since the moment he pulled you from the court room and convinced the TVA to put you to work.

You had been a variant that strayed from their path but you hadn’t been malicious or dangerous, it had merely been a mistake. Mobius had seen your drive and ambition as a detective during your mortal life and he had advocated to put you to work; especially as (Mobius had put it) ‘Many hands make light work’ and there was a lot of work at the TVA.

“It seems that nowadays you only visit me when you need something from me, Mo.” You continued to type up the report Mobius had interrupted with his presence.

“Well I’d visit you more if you actually took up my lunch offers.” Mobius had asked you several times about having lunch together but the Judge, Renslayer, had warned you from the beginning that in-office fraternisation was extremely frowned upon. And you were more wary of Renslayer since you were a variant, you could be reset even if you were one of the best workers the TVA...

You stopped typing and spun around in your chair, forcing Mobius to straighten up.

“What do you need now, Mobius?” You asked, your eyebrows raised slightly.

“I actually need you.” Mobius kept his voice low as he looked round the office for any eavesdroppers.

“What for?” You asked.

“I need you to come with me to look at this file. It’s a case I’m stuck on and I could really use your eagle eye.” Mobius’ light attitude wasn’t hiding the concern that sat in the wrinkle of his eyes.

“Why don’t you bring it to my desk and I’ll take a look after I finish typing up these reports?” You were confused to why Mobius needed you to look at it away from your desk. Mobius kneeled down in front of you so he could lower his voice even more.

“Look, you know I wouldn’t usually do this but it’s pretty urgent and you’re not exactly authorised to look at these files since they're classified but you’d really be doing me a solid if you just ignored that fact and followed me now?” Mobius revealed the truth and you felt your chest tighten. These risks were always bigger for you than for him since he was higher up than you and Renslayer favoured him.

“If I do this for you and I get caught, I’ll––”

“––I won’t let that happen.” Mobius cut you short, assuring you. His eyes told you that he was making a promise with that statement.

You thought in silence for a moment before saving the incomplete report and leaving your desk. 

No one had really noticed you leaving with Mobius as they all had their own work to do but that didn't stop the paranoia raking through your brain. 

You had barely made your way down the corridor when Mobius cursed under his breath. Renslayer appeared out of a doorway with several high up TVA members by her side. 

“Darn...” Mobius grabbed hold of your forearm before tugging you inside a door to his right. 

Mobius reached past you and closed the door on you both carefully and that’s when you realised he had tugged you into a very tight, very cluttered janitors closet. 

“What are you doing?” You whispered, looking up at Mobius as he stood behind you. 

You both faced the door, the confined closet didn’t allow you to move much without making noise with the small disc like cleaning robots and a few buckets surrounding you. 

“I didn’t exactly want to be answering a hundred and one questions on why I've taken you away from your desk.” Mobius whispered, his breath tickling your ear as he bent down slightly. 

“You could’ve said we were going to the canteen?” You whispered back. 

Footsteps nearing the door shut you both up. You felt Mobius slither his arm around your torso and pull you further back into the closet, your back flushed against his chest. 

You were grateful it was dark otherwise Mobius would've seen your eyes grow wide at the action. 

Your heart began to race as you felt his warm body firm against yours. 

“I could have said that but I think the fact we were walking in the opposite direction to the canteen may have given us away.” Mobius and his smart mouth murmured. 

“And don’t you think getting caught in a broom closet together will be even harder to explain?” You swallowed the lump in your throat as you tried to push back the burning feeling in the pit of your stomach. 

“We won’t get caught.” Mobius didn’t loosen his grip on you or remove his arm as the outside of the closet grew quiet again. 

“This is your fault if we do.” You unconsciously shifted on your feet out of nerves but that only caused accidental friction between you and Mobius. 

Your stomach flipped when you heard the almost silent groan from Mobius as your behind rubbed against his crotch. 

You remained in silence for a few seconds before Mobius spoke again. 

You could practically hear the smirk in his voice. 

“Your heart is beating very fast.” He commented as he tightened his arm around you. 

You didn’t say anything. Briefly closing your eyes as you inhaled a cool breath. 

“Your hair smells nice. You using a new shampoo?” Mobius was teasing you now... 

“Mobius.” You hissed lowly, warning him to knock it off.  

“What? It’s not everyday I get to be so close to a beautiful woman, will you not take the compliment?”

“We should leave. They’re probably gone now.”

“What’s the rush? I’m quite enjoying this.” Mobius let his other arm wrap around you, embracing you from behind and keeping you locked against him. 

“Mobius... Please...” You muttered, your hands resting on his arms but not really doing anything to fight against him. 

“What’s the matter?” Mobius’ lips brushed against the skin of your ear and you felt your whole body go rigid against him. 

There had been no denying the attraction between you two in the past. There had even been a moment where you had almost kissed before which is why you usually tried to keep your distance nowadays. 

You had been sitting in the library with Mobius, side by side as you worked on your own separate reports when you had dropped your pen and you had both reached down to pick it up. Mobius had gotten to it first but you had locked eyes as you slowly came up, the distance between you was so small that you could feel his breath tickling your cheeks but before anything could happen, Casey interrupted you. 

“You know, I’m really liking this new skirt. It’s an improvement to those trousers you wore last week.” Mobius let one of his arms drop from you and his fingers brushed lightly over the hem of your skirt. You had to refrain from shuddering when his finger skimmed across the back of your leg. 

“Mobius, this is dangerous.” You leant your head back onto his shoulder and looked up at the man’s dark eyes in the dim light. 

“I thought you liked danger... Excitement...” Mobius smirked, his fingers trailing up the outside of your thigh.

“Mo...” His name barely came out as a breath on your lips. 

“Tell me to stop and I’ll stop.” Mobius let his fingers trace circles on your smooth skin before he continued anywhere too intimate. 

You didn’t tell him to stop. 

Mobius dragged his fingers along the back of your thigh until they found the thin material of your panties. 

Your chest quickly began to rise and fall as your heart raced from the action. 

His index and middle finger brushed lightly underneath you before he squeezed your ass cheek firmly. 

You let out a whimper as you closed your eyes. 

“Shhhh...” Mobius hushed you. “You gotta stay quiet. Can you do that?”

You nodded your head, unsure whether your words would fail you if you tried to use them. 

“Good girl.” 

Mobius’s fingers returned between your legs edging your panties to the side as he dipped them between your folds. 

“My my, I’ve barely touched you...” Mobius taunted you over just how wet you were for him already. “Are you always like this for me?”

You nodded again, rolling your hips slightly to try and create some friction between you and his hand. 

“Impatient, aren't we?” Mobius didn’t hesitate to answer your silent request by finding your clit and rubbing circles against you. 

You jaw fell open slightly at the fire that ignited deep inside of you. Your grip on his arm around your torso grew tighter as he played with you.

“I’ve imagined this before but never in a janitors closet.” Mobius moved his hand closer to your entrance. “Still I’m not complaining...” He slipped his finger inside of you, causing a loud gasp to slip from your lips. 

Mobius let out a low chuckle as he pumped his finger in and out of you, adding a second finger as you stepped your legs open to give him better access. 

You tried to encourage Mobius’ other hand down your front to increase your pleasure but Mobius was stronger than you had expected. 

“Now, you’re wrong if you think you’re the one in control here... If you want something, you better ask.” Mobius’ seemed amused by your desperate attempt to have some control over his actions. 

“Please, Mobius.” You begged breathlessly as he finger fucked you from behind. 

“Please what?” Mobius paused. The sudden lack of movement was agony.

“Touch me.” You pushed his arm down and this time he let you. He loosened his grip from around you and pulled your skirt up the front of your thighs to gain access to your clit. 

But the pressure was too much. 

You bit down hard on your bottom lip to try your best to stay quiet. 

“There’s a good girl.” Mobius’ eyes were glued to your face as your features twisted with pleasure. 

Mobius withdrew the hand that had been inside of you and wrapped it around your neck as he pulled you against him once again. The hot slick that covered his fingers dampened your skin. 

You could feel his large bulge against your behind as he worked on your clit, pushing your hips against him. 

The overwhelming sensation soon washed over you as you came undone at his touch. 

You wasted no time, still throbbing from your climax, by spinning around and finally taking what was yours. 

You kissed Mobius, wrapping your arms around him, burying a hand in his short silver hair. 

Mobius hungrily kissed you back. His tongue exploring your mouth as you savoured the long awaited moment. You tugged off his brown jacket with a deep desire to feel what was underneath. 

“Mobius...” You mumbled into the kiss. “Fuck me.” 

Mobius didn’t wait a second longer. He pulled his belt from his pants and immediately unzipped his fly, letting his slacks fall to his knees as he pulled his thick member from his briefs. 

You let your hand drop down to his tie, wrapping it around your fist to keep a grip on him. 

Mobius reached up underneath your skirt and tugged your soaked panties down your thighs, you helped him remove them by kicking them off your feet. 

Mobius lifted your leg up onto his hip as he aligned his member up with your opening. 

He wrapped his arm behind you, keeping you against him as he thrusted deep within you. 

You winced, biting down on the starchy fabric of his shirt on his shoulder to muffle your cry. 

“God...” Mobius groaned as his member twitched inside of you. You were hot and tight and Mobius had only dreamt you felt as good as you did around him. 

“Is this what you wanted?” Mobius admired your face as you pulled back, taking a firm hold of his shoulder. 

“Yes...” You whimpered as he slowly began to move his hips against you. 

“Yes, what?” Mobius cocked his eyebrows at you. Your eyes opened wide at the question. 

“Yes... sir.” You had called Mobius sir on a few occasions, mainly when Renslayer had been around. You tested the waters with it. 

Mobius suddenly picked up the pace, thrusting deeper inside of you as he held onto you tightly. 

You moved your own hips against him, pleasure waves rolling over you as he hit that sweet spot inside of you with each deep thrust. 

The closet had become hot and sweat built on both of your foreheads as Mobius fucked you. You knew that you both wouldn’t last much longer as Mobius closed his eyes, digging his fingers into your thigh and back.

“Mobius.” You whimpered as you felt your climax surface once again. 

“Be a good girl and cum for daddy.” Mobius let it slip from his mouth before he could even think about what he had said.

You felt your insides flutter at the use of the pet name. 

With a few more hard thrusts, you came undone around his own throbbing cock. 

Mobius cursed under his breath as his seed spilled out, he managed to pull out just quick enough for it to drip down the inner of your leg. 

“I’m sorry.” Mobius reached over in the dark to rummage for a rag to help clean you up. 

You bent down awkwardly in the small space and used your panties to wipe away the excess. 

Mobius almost went hard again at the idea of you going commando for the rest of the day. 

“Should we get to that file?” You asked, tucking the ruined panties into Mobius’ pocket after he put his jacket back on. 

“Perhaps we should find a bathroom first. Make ourselves presentable.” Mobius reached out and touched your bottom lip with his thumb. It had swollen up from where you had bit it too hard. 

“Separate bathrooms or we may just find ourselves like this again.” You chuckled lightly as you adjusted your clothing. 

“God I hope so.” Mobius followed you out of the closet with a devilish smile. 

AN: Expect more Mobius imagines after this....

#mobius x reader #mobius m mobius x reader #mobius imagines #mobius m mobius imagines #mobius m mobius #Owen wilson #Owen wilson imagines #Owen wilson x reader #loki series #tva #loki imagines #imagines #smut

[pennylaneforthoughts]

After some thinking, a conversation with my sister-in-law with a psych degree, and a couple of sessions with my godsend of a therapist, I think I've finally put my finger on the thing about Mobius that Loki (and a lot of the fandom tbh) so quickly latched onto like a man dying of thirst at the first sign of water:

Unconditional positive regard.

This concept is at the core of client-centered psychology and basically is a stance that a therapist will take in relation to their client, where they simply accept and support their client as a person, regardless of what they do or say.

My therapist uses this framework with me, and when the Loki series came out, I immediately saw Mobius and was like "holy crap, this man has the exact same energy as Sami what???" And I couldn't for the life of me figure out why until I was talking about it with my sister-in-law and she mentioned unconditional positive regard. And then it clicked.

Mobius radiates unconditional positive regard from the minute he meets Loki in episode 1, and arguably even from the first time we even see him onscreen. He approaches everyone he interacts with using a basic framework of "I see you and care about you as a person, and nothing you do or say can change that," so we immediately get the impression that this man is soft, kind, and shaped like a friend. However, it's most obvious and pointed in his interactions with Loki.

While yes, Mobius' primary objective in episode 1 is to interrogate Loki, it's important to note that it's not an interrogation where Mobius is trying to find proof of guilt for a crime like we'd see in a typical detective procedural. Rather, Mobius is trying to see if this variant of Loki is self aware enough to be able to help him in his hunt for Sylvie. It's fundamentally a test to find out Loki's current place in his emotional and psychological development. It is not maliciously intended, and it is not designed to harm Loki. On the contrary, the intent is clearly to help Loki begin to come to terms with the reality of who he is and the choices he has made.

In fact, the whole time this is happening, Mobius very purposefully strives to foster an environment where Loki knows that A.) Mobius sees him. Truly sees and knows him. B.) Despite knowing what Loki is and what he's done, Mobius loves him and regards him positively, and C.) nothing Loki can do or say will change that positive regard.

Loki, however, is super not used to receiving unconditional positive regard. He has no idea how to respond to it. He feels like it's a trick, like there's another shoe just waiting to drop. I related to him hardcore in this scene because that's exactly how I felt when my therapist presented me with unconditional positive regard for the first time. It's confusing and strange and difficult to believe at first. Especially because it sets the stage for honest self reflection and personal growth that can be incredibly painful.

Loki is not a perfectly innocent person. He has done a lot of really bad things and hurt a lot of people in his life. He has a lot of very deep seated trauma that has informed these actions, but he still made those choices and he needs to take responsibility for them. This is not a fun process. Mobius knows this is actually a really awful, sucky process. But he also knows that change and growth requires two things: acknowledgement that a change needs to be made and the expectation that change can and will occur when properly cultivated. Mobius clearly laying out the reality of Loki's actions and who he is in the Sacred Timeline is the first part of that equation, and his unflappable, unconditional positive regard towards Loki as a person despite knowing that reality cultivates an environment for the second part to flourish.

"By definition, it is essential in any helping relationship to have an anticipation for change. In the counseling relationship, that anticipation presents as Hope—an optimism that something good and positive will develop to bring about constructive change in the client's personality. Thus, unconditional positive regard means that the therapist has and shows overall acceptance of the client by setting aside their own personal opinions and biases. The main factor in unconditional positive regard is the ability to isolate behaviors from the person who displays them." (source)

Mobius is not Loki's therapist, but he does take on a therapeutic role in Loki's life. He shows Loki that he is fully aware of all of Loki's faults and mistakes. He's seen them over and over again and knows them by heart because it's his job. And in the face of all of that he looks at Loki and says that he doesn't see him as a villain. That he likes him anyway and believes that Loki has the potential to help him and what he believes is the cause of good. (Yes the TVA is corrupt, but neither of them know that at this point, and the fact that both Mobius and Loki believe this to be the side of good to varying degrees is important here)

Mobius maintains this regard throughout the series and his subsequent interactions with Loki and when talking about Loki to Ravonna and others, and it's a big part of why Loki so quickly trusts and feels comfortable around Mobius. I know some people say it's unrealistic how fast it was, but it made a lot of sense just based on my experience. I mean, after one (1) session with my therapist, I was 100% ride or die for him, and it was kind of absurd. But the feeling of being seen like that is so potent when you're starved for it, that extreme reactions to it make a lot of sense. And if anyone's starved for unconditional positive regard, it's Loki.

Mobius is only human though, and he's not perfect at this. Over the course of the series, it's clear that Mobius has emotionally invested a lot in his Loki, and he struggles to maintain a professional distance, though he usually is able to keep his head enough to give Loki that positive regard he needs. The only time we see this regard slip is in episode 4 when Mobius is feeling betrayed and jealous. In these moments, Mobius is unable to step back from his feelings enough to get into a headspace where he can separate Loki's actions from who he is. He calls Loki an asshole and a bad friend, and it comes from a place of hurt and jealousy. It's also what drives Loki into a defensive mode we haven't seen since episode 1. He's no longer receiving that unconditional positive regard from Mobius and he feels betrayed. He worries that maybe it was all an act in the first place and Mobius never really cared for him at all. For the first time, Loki feels like Mobius doesn't see the best in him anymore and it hurts.

Mobius' unconditional positive regard was genuine, though, and this is reinforced in the subsequent scenes where we see him act on his instinctual desire to assume the best of Loki and investigate his claims. We see it again when he returns to Loki and he reaffirms both his desire to trust Loki and his belief that Loki can be "whoever, whatever he wants to be, even someone good." At this point, Loki is able to accept it and no longer pushes back against Mobius' belief in Loki's goodness and that he "has within himself vast resources for self-understanding, for altering his self-concept, attitudes, and self-directed behavior." He's grown and begun to see himself in a more realistic and positive light and it's a direct result of the time Mobius has spent cultivating that relationship based on unconditional positive regard.

That's why their relationship feels so comfortable and satisfying. Unconditional positive regard isn't only a therapy principle. It's something everyone craves in a relationship. To be seen as you are, flaws and mistakes and quirks and all is terrifying and mortifying, but when that person then just smiles and says I love you anyway because you are not your mistakes and you are not your flaws and nothing you can ever do or say can change how I feel about you, the relief and joy and comfort is more than worth the discomfort. So I think the idea that Mobius can look at someone as deeply flawed, broken, and jaded as Loki and love him exactly as he is right there and then, eyes wide open and smiling, believing that beneath it all Loki has the potential to be good, gives us hope that someone could do the same for us. I know that's what Lokius does for me, at least. Mobius represents to me the ideal of unconditional positive regard, and having an image of what that looks like in the character of Mobius gives us the opportunity to apply it to ourselves when we may not get it elsewhere in our lives. And I, for one, think that's very sexy of him.

#lokius #wowki #loki #mobius #loki x mobius #mobius my beloved #He is my comfort character and this is why #Also this is low key homework from my therapist bc my attachment to this man has become a literal tool in my therapist's belt #And it's both excellent and embarrassing lmaoooooo

[peterbarnes]

Maybe Chapter 2

Summary: You work at the TVA as an analyst. Every day is the same- boring case after boring case- but your entire life changes one day when a new variant shows up.

Word Count: 2.5k

A/N: I don’t know what happened, but the first post of this disappeared from my blog??? Anyway, here it is again. Hopefully tumblr won’t eat it this time. Enjoy the angst!!

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

He was gone.

The first chance he got to escape, and he took it. And with his variant.

“You okay, [Y/N]?” You heard a voice say softly behind you. You didn’t bother to turn around, there’s only one person in the TVA who’d bother to check on you.

“Yeah, fine, Mobius… Have you found anything?” You swiveled around in your desk chair towards the white-haired man. He looked paler than ever, holding a file that looked as if it were permanently stuck to his hand.

Mobius shook his head. The hand that wasn’t holding the file went up to his face and rubbed his tired eyes. You could only imagine how calloused his fingers must be from all the reports he had to write for this case.

“Dead ends everywhere. It’s hard to detect them when they’re probably jumping from apocalypse to apocalypse.”

Your eyes made their way to the monitor behind him that displayed the sacred timeline. No new branches.

“We shouldn’t have trusted him-” Mobius continued.

“Trusting him wasn’t the problem,” you interrupted sharply. “The problem was not giving him an incentive to stay and help us. He would’ve done anything we asked if we promised him some sort of reward.”

“Always so logical,” Mobius sighed. “Can’t you just accept the fact that maybe he’s just the bad guy?”

You stared daggers at the man in front of you. If looks could kill, Mobius would've disintegrated within seconds.

“Nobody is good or bad, Mobius. We all do things of both natures.”

“I know you had a soft spot for him-”

“That has nothing to do with this- I’m an analyst. Assessing situations objectively and logically is my job,” you snapped. You gritted your teeth and your hands clenched. Who does he think he is questioning me like this?

“Except you’re not assessing this case objectively, [Y/N],” Mobius exclaimed, the frustration in his voice evident. He threw the file down on your desk before grabbing the back of your chair, forcing you to look him dead in the eye.

“Don’t lecture me about my job, Mobius. I know what I’m doing and I’m damn good at it.”

“You’re letting him get inside your head-”

BEEP! BEEP!

The disruption made both you and your co-worker’s heads snap towards the sound. You rushed out of your chair and towards the monitor, where a large orange branch grew from the sacred timeline. It was unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Instead of a small, straight line, the branch was long and curved, its growth rapid and alarming.  

“Mobius…”

“Okay, that’s not someone stepping on the wrong leaf,” he let out, his voice getting excited at the possibility of a lead. “You ever seen a branch like that?”

“There’s never been a nexus event large or unstable enough to cause something this… chaotic.”

You watched in wonder as the branch continued to inch its way towards the red line at the top of the screen.

“Hunters!” Mobius hollered throughout the room. Within seconds, at least a dozen of them were circled around the two of you, B-15 present at the very front. Completely in sync, they all activated their pruning weapons, the glow emitting a bright, orange light throughout the dark room.

“What are our orders, Mobius?” B-15 asked, already in her fighting stance with her legs planted and her fingers tightly gripped around her weapon.

“Go get them.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You heard him before you saw him.

Since you had no combat training, Mobius told you to wait in the interrogation room while the hunters captured Loki and his variant.

The room was dead silent. So much so that you didn’t really know what to do with yourself as you waited. You could barely stay still from all of the anxiety you felt throughout your body. You had almost chewed all of your nails off before his booming voice sounded throughout the room.

“I should have an equal amount of security. This is insulting!”

As soon as his voice trailed off the double red doors flew open, banging against the beige walls adjacent to them.

When Loki stepped into the room, his eyes stopped on where you sat, right in the center of his viewpoint.

You gave him a once over, noticing how unkempt he looked. His raven hair was messy and fell unevenly over his face, and the TVA uniform he dorned was covered in what appeared to be dirt. His face looked the same, though. His features were still soft. You could’ve swore you saw an apology swimming in his ocean eyes, but you convinced yourself you had only imagined it. Get a grip, [Y/L/N]. Do your job.

“Take a seat, Mr. Laufeyson,” you told him, trying to keep your voice monotone and as professional as possible.

“Mr. Laufeyson?” Loki questioned before being pushed into the bright red chair across from you by the hunters gripping his arms. “I thought we were at least on a first name basis.”

“What would you prefer then? The God of Self-Sabotage? The God of Back-Stabbing?” You snapped.

You expected him to let out a bitter laugh and shake his head before making up some quip to mock you. But none of that came. Loki sat still in his chair, eyes trailing to the floor in what looked like shame.

The hard look in your eyes faltered at his vulnerable state. Why couldn’t you have just stayed here? With me? That’s what you really wanted to say.

“I’m sorry, [Y/N],” he whispered, his eyes now off the floor and locked with yours. “Really, I am. I went with Sylvie because-”

“Sylvie?”

“The variant.”

You jotted that down on the notepad you had placed in front of you.

“Is that with an I-E or just an I?” You drawled sarcastically.

“[Y/N].”

Loki’s voice had lost all of its gentleness as he spoke your name. He sounded determined, and when you looked up from your notes you saw that drive reflected in his eyes.

“What?”

“I’m glad you found me and that I was taken back here, even if I’m a prisoner, because there’s something I need to tell you.”

“And what’s that?” You asked, dropping your pen and leaning forward on the table. “You’ll help us now? You’ll never betray me again? Honestly, just save your bullshit for someone else-”

“The TVA is lying to you!” He exclaimed, hand slamming down on the table in frustration. “And if you would just quit your snarky comments for two seconds, I could explain to you how.” He took a breath, trying to calm down the fire that ignited inside him as you had egged him on. “I messed up. I know. I know and I’m sorry. I-I never wanted to hurt you. Betrayal has always been second nature to me, but I’m trying to be better. I’m trying to make it right. Please let me make it right.”

For the first time, Loki looked truly desperate. But not desperate to get some sort of reward or glory. He was desperate for you to believe him. It was written all over his face- in his furrowed brows, his pleading eyes, and soft voice that was so light it was close to cracking.

You felt the walls you had built up inside you before you saw him slowly start to crumble, brick by brick. You turned to the hunters who stood by the door, preventing anyone from getting in or out.

“Leave us, please,” you told them.

“Ma’am are you sure?”

“That’s an order.”

The hunters wore skeptical looks on their faces and made questioning eyes towards each other but obeyed nonetheless. Once they had cleared out you turned back to the demigod in front of you.

“I- you told me you were gonna stick around. And then when we went to Roxxcart, you protected me from the Variant. All of that was obviously just some show to you-”

“No, it wasn’t-”

“Even if it wasn’t, that’s what it felt like to me, okay? So why should I believe you now?”

Loki paused and looked unsure, as if he was trying to form the right words to say in his head.

“Sylvie told me…”

“Sylvie? The variant?” You scoffed. “So now I’m supposed to trust the word of two Loki’s? Fan-fucking-tastic.”

“You know, you never sweared this much before you know. You had a much softer demeanor.”

“That’s what happens when I’m angry. And, frankly, I’m pissed.”

Before you could understand what he was doing, Loki reached across the small, round table and took your hand in his. His hands were cold to the touch, but smooth nonetheless. And they were so gentle. For a man who always talked about conquering and battle, you expected his hands to be like another weapon of his, sharpened and calloused. But as his thumb rubbed circles over your palm, that thought completely evaporated from your mind.

“Sorry. I-I’m just confused,” you whispered, interlacing your fingers further with his. “I don’t know what to do, or what to believe anymore. Everything here has been strange since you left. C-20 went crazy from whatever the var- sorry, Sylvie did to her. And Ravonna won’t tell me anything.”

“That’s because she’s keeping secrets from you,” Loki told you, head turning from you to the door continuously as if he was afraid someone was gonna barge in any second.

“What secrets?”

“You’re all variants- everyone at the TVA. The timekeepers didn’t create you, they stole you from the timeline. You had a life. Maybe even a family…”

You slowly removed your hand from his and sat back in your chair, closing your eyes.

“Loki, you do realize what you sound like right?”

“I might be the God of Lies, but I’m not lying. Not to you. Never to you.”

Suddenly, the doors of the room flew open with a large thud, and you nearly jumped out of your seat. Loki actually had and stepped in front of you, ready to fight off whoever came in, even with the collar on that blocked his magic.

“Relax, it’s just me.”

Mobius strutted towards the two of you, but this time, instead of a file in his hand, he held a TemPad.

“You couldn’t have walked in like a normal person?” You asked, your hand on your heart trying to calm it down. “Nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“I like the theatrics.”

You and Loki rolled your eyes at his childish antics.

“Look,” Mobius started. “I heard you guys outside… he’s right.”

“What are you talking about, Mobius. I don’t have any memories from the sacred timeline.”

“They must have been erased somehow. I took Ravonna’s TemPad,” he said, lifting the device in his hand.

“You what?!”

Both of the men shushed you at your outburst, and you let out a weak sorry in response.

“She killed C-20.”

Silence overcame the room. It was all-consuming, as if you were trapped in a box filled with rising water, about to drown.

“What?” Your voice wavered at what your friend had just said. “That’s not possible.”

“Sylvie enchanted C-20, showed her memories from her life on the sacred timeline. She started to act up and rebel. She was too much of a risk to the order of the TVA… so they axed her.”

Mobius was very clear with his words, but your brain was scrambling trying to comprehend them. You had just seen C-20 a few days ago. You had eaten lunch together, laughed together. Is it really possible for things to go so bad in such a short time? For everything you thought you knew about yourself and your life to completely shatter before you?

“I’m a variant?” Your voice cracked. You could feel the tears stinging your eyes as you imagined the life that had been stolen from you. It was as if you could feel it sitting in the back of your mind somewhere, stuck, trapped. And no matter what you did, how hard you tried, you couldn’t reach it.

You felt Loki take your hand again, but this time he pressed a quick kiss to your knuckles in an attempt to comfort you.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” he said, his lips still close enough to your hand that you could feel them move over your skin.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” you told him.

“Well I can hardly blame you for that,” he chuckled.

You couldn’t help but beam at him. He came back. He came back for you.

“What do we do now?” You asked, determination lacing your voice.

“We burn this place to the ground,” Loki growled. “Come on.”

He pulled you out of your chair and the three of you made your way towards the double doors before they flew open for the third and final time.

Except, instead of a friend stood four hunters, pruning weapons lit up and ready. And in the middle of them stood Ravonna herself, Mobius’s TemPad in hand.

“I think you have something of mine,” she spoke to Mobius. Her face and her voice displayed no emotion. It was like she was a soldier. But who’s her commander?

“Yeah!” Mobius exclaimed, face lighting up to sell his act. “I got all the way down here before I even realized I picked up yours.”

He handed it back to one of the hunters that stood in front of Ravonna.

“What’s the problem, Ravonna?” you asked, smiling at her. On the inside, you were really thinking of all the torturous things you could do to her. Gun? No, too quick. Poison on the other hand…

She glared daggers into you. And when she didn’t respond, you could tell the act was up. There was no way you were making it out of here alive. But Loki, Ravonna needed him to give to the timekeepers. She wouldn’t prune him here. You squeezed Loki’s hand before turning to him. He shot you a look, as if to say what are you doing?

You pressed a kiss to his cheek and made sure to linger there long enough to whisper in his ear, “stay strong, darling. Everything will work out in the end, I promise.”

“You know where I’d go if I could go anywhere?” You asked, turning back to the woman who stood before you. All of the fear and hesitation left your body. You weren’t going to die without finally speaking your mind. “Wherever it is I’m really from. Wherever I had a life before the TVA came along.”

You spoke every word with conviction and passion as you thought about what could’ve been. You felt Loki watching you, but you couldn’t tell if he was proud or if he was hoping you would put your head down and lay low.

But at the end of the day, it didn’t matter because you’d barely finished your sentence before you heard Ravonna roar “prune them!”

And then there was only darkness.

Tags:

@naturallyathief

@burntchicken231

@imabadbiatchh

@heelsh1re​

@poubxlle

#Loki #loki x reader #loki spoilers #loki layfeyson x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #loki x oc #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #loki imagine #loki imagines #peter parker x reader #bucky barnes x reader #tom hiddleston #tom hiddelston x reader #tom hiddleston smut #loki smut #tom hiddleston imagine #wandavision #marvel

[natalie-k-pan]

10 Ways the Loki show Disappointed Me

part two

6) The trailer was misleading advertising. Marvel’s done it in the past with little to no backlash:

Iron Man 3 presenting the Mandarin as the ultimate foe for Tony to defeat, only to find out he’s a charlatan in a minor role.

Falcon and Winter Soldier was presented as a light-hearted buddy adventure, only to tackle darker themes about nationalism and racism. (Not saying that those themes were bad, just that the TFAWS’s trailer was not truthful to the story).

In the case of Loki, the trailer presented the plot as Loki making time-traveling shenanigans and being captured for breaking the timeline. They included the D.B Cooper clip, and the scenes of Loki in New York and as king in Asgard. These clips never show up in season 1. The D.B Cooper scene was a off-the-cuff moment, and the highly-anticipated (imo) President Loki was around for five minutes.

The trailer shows the storyline being about Loki breaking the timeline, with Mobius saying in a voiceover, “You picked up the tesseract, breaking reality. I want you to help us fix it.”

Marvel’s publicity team knew what story we would want to see from the character. And that’s not what we got: it was a mix of Loki tagging along with Sylvie to take down the Timekeepers, and detective-esque  scenes of trying to overthrow the TimeKeepers. 

It was never about Loki having an adventure, breaking the timeline, and having to fix it.

There’s a difference between having scenes that don’t make it into the final product, between not revealing enough of the story to spoil plot twists...and deliberately choosing certain scenes and quotes  to present a false version of the story.

I guess Marvel was worried that no one would watch it if they showed us the real product.

7)    Loki’s powers were wildly inconsistent, especially compared to what we’ve seen before.

In the past, we’ve seen Loki do illusions, duplication casting and in Thor 2, some very light telekinesis. After hearing of his mother’s death, he throws several pieces of furniture in into the cell walls with his mind. This is after losing the person who probably mattered most to him at the time, and feeling responsible for her death--it’s a powerful move showing his magical capabilities.

In the show, in Episode 3 we see him pull a Roomba towards himself in order to use it as a shield during a fight--pretty in-line with what we saw in the Dark World.

One episode later, an entire flipping tower is falling towards them, and he reverses it with his mind alone.

It was in the face of death, you say. Of course he was going to pull some cool new magical move.

Sure. In the face of death, I could see him jumping from throwing chairs to something heavier, like maybe a crumbling wall or a fruit stand.

BUT A TOWER?

 WHY?

 HOW??

He’s never done anything on that scale magically. In episode 2, he got tossed around by a (human) Alabama man. Why would he not use that move to bring the roof crumbling down if he was fighting for his life then?

So he’s got massive telepathic power when a building is falling but can’t use it in a fight against regular people.... okay?

Honestly, due to the fact that they’ve weakened him so much, and when Loki said, “I think we’re stronger than we realize”, I’m betting Season 2 will include Loki discovering the extent of his magical powers. 

 I don’t like this idea because again, it contradicts the previous canon. In Thor 1, Hogun literally calls Loki a “master of magic”. He went toe-to-toe with Thor and the Avengers and now can’t beat regular humans. A thousand+ year old being unaware of his own untapped potential doesn’t seem correct (yeah, they did that with Thor in Ragnarok, I know).

This Loki’s power levels jump up and down according to the plot, trying to make us believe that due to his spoiled past, Loki needs to apply himself to learn more about his powers.

 8)  Loki was out of character.

His lying and scheming was way too obvious. I was incredibly confused the first couple of episodes because it would be strange how he would be a pathetic buffoon  one minute and yet The only moment I was sold on his competence as a liar was episode 2 at the renaissance fair where he attempts to fool  the TVA. He was actually competent for once, but he gets caught, and goes into apologizing and sucking up 30 seconds later.   

He gets drunk when they’re on the mission on Lamentis. This didn’t make sense--when he was trying to conquer Earth, he had the opportunity to also goof off and he’s always been shown to take things seriously, with the exception of Ragnarok.                                                 

The “I’m a narcissist” scene. While Loki is the type to crave attention--in Avengers, Tony calls him a diva who wants his name plastered to the skies--it comes from a place of feeling overshadowed, never able to match his brother Thor.  Which we can see has some basis:

In Thor 1, his adopted parents raised him to hate his race,

lied to him about it,

 and when he was hanging over an wormhole, his father finally rejected him.

In Avengers, Thor tells him in  that his slights are “imagined”. 

 Thor 2, his adopted father told him his “birthright was to die”.

While it doesn’t excuse his actions in Thor and Avengers, it’s pretty clear that his family, particularly his father, have let him down.

So to make him experience character development and understand why he does what he does...the writers took him back to Asgard, and had Sif beat him up repeatedly until he admits he does terrible things because he’s a...narcissist.

It was pretty hard to watch that scene, especially because I related to Loki as someone who felt overshadowed and overlooked. He tried too hard to be what his family wanted, to show that he was “the worthy son”.

But here in the fantastic year of 2021, this show decided to throw away all of that emotional nuance away.

 9) The costumes were bad.

The brown variant jacket with its ugly orange block letters.

The guard suit on Lamentis looked like a cross between a purple sweater and a plague doctor mask. honestly makes me shuder to see it

Loki’s green-and-gold costumes are some of the most distinct, instantly recognizable outfits of the MCU. And he almost immediately loses it in the first episode. It ends being given to Sylvie, (like most of Loki’s better characteristics) and he stays in a detective skinny-tie suit instead. The costume is okay, but it lacks the flair and style he’s had previously, and he never gains it back.

10) The season finale really did showcase this show in the best way-- ig hype followed by disappointment.

For five episodes, we rushed towards the ultimate villain, the mastermind behind it all. Episode 6 was like...being handed a pack of bubble wrap, swinging your hand hard, expecting that satisfying pop! only to have it slowly putter out with a sad little sound.

First, Kang looked like he got his costume from Party City. The purple cape isn’t doing him any favors. Then, the man sat there and monologued for forty minutes, making jokes, telling us how he set the plot up, and how the multiverse worked.

 I know Marvel gets flack for there always being an CGI climactic action scene, but…they had 6 episodes leading up to the Big Bad, and for it to end that anticlimactically with a man in a Party City purple cape was a letdown. The finale had no menace, no teeth. In the words of Mobius, it was just…talkie-talkie.

All in all, this show really suffered from ignoring Loki’s past, where he would realistically be emotionally-wise, and a lack of focus on its title character’s development. Settings and costumes being better/unique would be also be nice, especially given its popularity. At the end of the day, I don’t see the character I empathized so strongly with in this show.

#loki disney+ #loki negativity #loki critical #loki #loki review #wish it was better

[twh-news]

We spoke to Tom Hiddleston about Loki, PowerPoint presentations and the nature of free will

Despite a decade of playing Loki in several Marvel movies and now a TV show, Tom Hiddleston isn’t tired of the role. “There is always something new to be found,” he says The edge.

This week is the premiere of Loki on Disney Plus, a six-episode series that marks the character’s first lead role. It is a story of time travel and branched timelines as Loki is captured by an organization called the Time Variance Authority (TVA). It combines action, humor and some old-fashioned detective work, while tackling serious topics such as the nature of free will. There are also some new faces on board as Hiddleston is joined by Marvel newcomers Owen Wilson, who plays a TVA agent named Mobius, and director Kate Herron, best known for her work on the first season of Sex education.

Prior to the show’s premiere, I had the chance to talk to Hiddleston about his time as a character, a presentation that made him feel like an “amateur academic giving a thesis on Loki,” working with Wilson and Herron, and whether our lives are predetermined. Typical Marvel stuff.

The following interview has been edited and abbreviated for clarity.

We are now at a decade where you play Loki. How have your feelings about the character changed or grown over that time?

I’m honestly just thankful that I’m still here. I find that I am always surprised and happy that I get another chance in it. Long before I was cast, Loki was just the most fascinating and complex character with such depth and range, and he’s been in Marvel comics in several iterations for 60 years, and he’s been in our thoughts, in stories we tell as humans, for hundreds, if not thousands of years. I find that even though it has been 10 years, every time I come back, there is always more to discover. There is always more to dig because these impostors are kind of mercurial and shape-shifting. So there is always something new to be found.

"“Loki is out of control. He’s a man on the run.”"

Now that you’ve focused this six-episode series on Loki, what were you looking forward to exploring with this? What were you hoping to dive into?

I think he’s really opening up and bringing out his many different identities and facets. In my preparation to play the character, I’ve always seen him have so many different and seemingly contradictory characteristics. You think, “How can all these characteristics exist in one person, in one being?” And yet they do.

Loki has always been a character in all MCU movies that seems to be very controlled. He seems to know what cards he has in his hand and how he is going to play them. And Loki, in the TVA – this organization that rules time – has gotten out of hand. He’s a man on the run. And he is motivated by a desire to understand. Suddenly he discovers that there is all this information that he does not have, and he has to get his hands on it. And that actually gives the series great momentum. Loki is on the back foot, everyone knows more than him, and seeing how he adapts, seeing how he improvises after that – if improvisation is possible in the TVA. That’s a question we’re trying to raise, whether you have free will.

I read about the Loki school you led to prepare the team for the character’s history. How did you prepare for that? Did you actually know it all, or did you have to do a lot of research?

I wish it wouldn’t be 10 hours long. I knew I had to summarize what I found useful to tell the crew. It came about thanks to Kate Herron, our director who has done an extraordinary job on this whole series, and he thought maybe it would be a good idea to get everyone together because there were so many department heads, different crew members – production design, costume design, cinematography, camera, sound, stunts – and wanting to make sure everyone had the same information about Loki, and it might be helpful to listen to my experience. I was trying to explain how we constructed Loki’s arc across the six movies he’s in the MCU and figure out what was useful in that arc and what we could leave behind.

I suddenly felt extremely nervous, as if I were an amateur academic writing a thesis on Loki. You’ll have to ask the others if it was helpful at all. But at least we synchronized the watches and we started from the same place.

"“If I were tall enough to use PowerPoint, I could retire and become a full-time professor.”"

So is there a PowerPoint file out there somewhere that will leak out one day?

If I was highly skilled enough to use PowerPoint, I could retire and become a full-time professor.

I did have a few clips. I thought there were some clips from the movies that could be helpful. It was interesting, even though it was about how the costume had changed over the years and why. And when does Loki wear the horns? Are the horns a casual thing? Are they a ceremonial thing like a crown? Is it an extension of an inner intention? Do the horns come out if he’s particularly evil? Why is her hair different? Sometimes he wears a cape, sometimes not. Sometimes he uses magic, sometimes he uses his own body to fight in combat. All questions that people were curious about.

I know this was meant for the rest of the crew, but was it helpful for you to go through this again as you prepared to jump back into the role?

Oh yes, absolutely, just to refresh myself about certain decisions we had made and why certain things were changed… sometimes you try to bring very elaborate and beautifully illustrated comic book panels into a physical reality on a movie set and figure out how to merge these two worlds. It was interesting. I got some great questions about how he moves the way he does and where certain things showed up in stunts, especially hair, makeup and wardrobe, how the clothes changed and why we made those choices.

It was interesting to refresh myself on the extraordinary input, because I carry the inspiration of great people with me. [Thor director] Kenneth Branagh and Alexandra Byrne, our costume designer; Bo Welch who designed the first Thor movie; Charlie Wood who was production designer on The dark world; the whole crew of Ragnarok; Mayes Rubeo, the costume designer of Ragnarok; and people like Douglas Noe, who has been doing makeup on Loki for a long time. So there was a lot to unpack.

Both Kate Herron and Owen Wilson are newcomers to the Marvel machine. Is it helpful to have such an external perspective?

Absolutely. Both Kate and Owen came in with so many questions because they hadn’t lived in Loki’s head for 10 years. They have a fresh take on it. Kate was so well prepared and so well researched; she even brought in new Marvel Publishing material that I’d never seen before, about Loki’s inner world. Owen came in and asked me a lot of questions about my experience. I remember him saying, “Tom, why should I?” you do you like to play Loki?” And I found myself saying, “Well, he’s just got this whole range. He can play the light keys, but he can also play the heavy keys in the bass clef. And somehow the character has both.” And he loved that way of thinking about it, he said, “I think I could say that on the show.” And so it was really his very intelligent question that took us elsewhere in the story.

Given the themes of the first two episodes, I have to ask: do you believe in free will?

I hope so. Free will is such an interesting, eternal question. I think people have asked to what extent we have the power of self-determination, self-realization, choice about our actions and whether we can control the course of our lives. It goes back to evolutionary or psychological arguments about nature and nurture and why we are who we are. Maybe it’s the journey of a lifetime to find out, to really take the wheel of your own life. Because we are set on a path in childhood, I think, often by accident – the misfortune of birth, where we were born and when – and we are propelled in many ways by the unconscious.

That’s a complicated answer. It’s a complex question. So I hope so. I hope true free will is possible. But for all of us, I think it can be a long journey of self-discovery.

#tom hiddleston #loki #loki series #interview #article #whatsnew2day

[trutrustories]

Okay, this will be probably long and with many errors (my english isn´t very good) But I saw several posts here on Lokius tag, talking about this ship as result of gay fetish, and about non existing chemistry and  how this ship doesn´t make sense etc… And from what I understood there is tagged Lokius because of genuine interest to understand others point of view, so here is mine: I wil try to explain where my frustration comes from, and how I feel about Lokius, Sylkie, AND representation + some other things which I saw here somewhere. But first of all: I like Sylvie, I don´t hate sylkie shipers, and after so many years reading fan fictions, I don´t mind selfcest – I read weirder things. I have some issues with this ship (the mainlythe fact that it isn´t Lokius), but  this is not one of them. Also, I am not about to tell anyone, they shouldn´t ship sylkie.Ship whatever. And I LOVED the show as a whole. 

I just want to defend my standpoint, that Lokius does make sense, people shipping it does make sense and whether it will happen or not, (I don´t have my hopes very high, and I learned to be very skeptical in this regard ) it is more than just about crack ship, or fetish. I´m honestly blown away that people are still surprised that this ship became a thing :D First of all, let´s look at some romantic story telling and tropes: I mean the way they introduced them in the first two episodes set the tone for all series and how the heck this isn´t romantic? Somehow there are all these romantic tropes existing in a show. They´re just there. Just chilling between Loki and Mobius and large portion of audience can´t even see them. (and some of those tropes were used for Sylki as well, so you could actually see them side by side)

For example: 1) traveling to the apocalypsis 2) breaking law/rules for the other 3) literally changing for the better thanks to the other 4) arguing like old married couple 5) saying secrets, personal things to the other 6) sharing glances, touches, visibly being happy around each other - in case of Loki happier then we´ve ever seen him before 7) being completely themselfs around each other 8) One knowing everything (even the worst) about other and still accepting him completely 9) teasing, being comfortable and domestic around each other 10) one being literally enthusiastic FAN of the other 11) Mobius defending Loki whenever he has a chance 12) Freaking amnesia trope that they pulled of in the end??? (It could be different Mobius, but point is he suddenly doesn´t know him - and Loki knows more, in contrast with the beggining) 13) the jealousy in ep4 14) Misunderstanding - when Mobius thought Loki betrayed him and Loki (thanks to Ravonna) thought Mobius betrayed him... 15) witnessing death of the other and being absolutely broken afterwards 16) The goodbye hug with romantic music in the backround 17) Saving life of the one (even when it means problems for the other ) - like Mobius saved Loki´s ass at least three times when he was trying to stop others from pruning him. 18) sharing deep conversations about meanings of life, freedom and how it would be fun to make some chaos and ride that fucking jet ski!!! 19) Inspiring the other 20) looking for each other (Mobius didn´t believe for a second, that Loki would die in the Void and the way how in the last minutes of the series Loki run through all places they were together when he was looking for Mobius... and I could go on. Point is, even if they are not planning to make Lokius canon, all these things are used on a daily basis to describe romance in media and they are used here. On top of that it´s just very poetic and cute, that this drama queen and powerful god of Asgard who looked down on people would find his match in someone, who is so quiet, ordinary on the first sight, and basically is just human from 90s, who loves jet skis. Mobius can´t even fight. But is highly inteligent and he also happen to be as good manipulator, such as Loki himself. - That´s why they work together so well. Mobius sees right through him and once Loki understands that, he drops his evil persona. Almost nobody expected to ship it for real. But story itself and chemistry between them just made it probably the most exciting duo in the whole MCU. And I mean it genuinely. Third episode, even though it was beautiful and Sophie was great in it (and is literally dipped in bisexual colors), is the least favorite for a reason. And that reason being, there is no interaction between Loki and Mobius whatsoever. Lot´s of people though that series slowed down a bit. Even when in fact there was more action, then when we watched Loki and Mobius working at the TVA.

(and let´s just talk about evil!Mobius narative for a bit and how some people say he is manipulative and toxic for Loki: show itself explore heavy themes and one of them is in Loki´s line: no one bad is ever truly bad and no one good is ever truly good. And as a theme in a fictional world, it is working as it should, for the  story. When Loki and Mobius meet, one of them just killed lots of innocent people and destroyed almost whole city. The other one is a part of fascist organization – and in the beginning of the series they both believe what they´re doing is right. They´re both bad, they´re both good, they´re both broken. And they are changing with the help of the other.) From all reactions I watched - and there was many of them, lots of people actually didn´t see dynamic between Loki and Sylvie as romantic in the third episode. So it´s not like Sylvie and Loki had unequivocally love story right from the start.

The only difference is that lots of people won´t see romantic tropes, when it comes to two men in a mainstream show – show that isn´t primarily about relationships and problems that queer people has to face. Because in super hero story and science fiction we have to warn audience, that they´re about to watch two man in love, right? At this point It´s just frustrating really. There were many M/M dynamics that used similar story line, as for example Lucifer, or X-files, or Bone collectors. -  But unlike those M/M pairings, no one was making fun of people for shipping main characters in these shows. But when it comes to two men suddenly you´ll see from all corners of the internet: “why can´t it be just platonic?” “There is not enough platonic relationships” “why can´t two man just be friends?” (They can and they almost ALWAYS are) and “if you think there something romantic between them, you´re delusional” “fetishist“ “And for god´s sake just let them be friends, Loki needs a friend more then....” oh wait, but Sylvie is allowed to kiss him. Sylvie doesn´t have to be just friend. (And I must say, that I love Sylvie, I liked most of the interactions between her and Loki and I think she is a great character ((I hope we learn more about her in the future)) it just doesn´t work for me as well as Loki´s dynamic with Mobius. Maybe partly because of chemistry between actors, partly because combination of characters and they´re personality and also because I had two whole episodes to fall in love with the pair before Sylvie was even introduced.)

First of all: people can be friends and then evolve into lovers. Not only it is common romantic trope, but it is also the most realistic one. And those relationships are usually strongest. second: If people want to see Loki in a platonic friendship so desperately, why can´t it be a woman for a change? They were acting like chaotic siblings for most of the episode three anyway. The age gap aspect is also very funny. Owen is only about 12 years older (That is not that much. But I imagine, some people would get uncomfortable. But If it was man and woman, most of them wouldn´t even blinked. But two men, that has to be somehow automatically son and father figure dynamic) And If you want to dive into age of an actual characters, then good luck with that in a series about gods, variants and time travel. Almost nobody cares about age gap between Lucifer and detective Decker, or Bella and Edward. On top of that, it was heavily implied, that Loki slept with older, silver haired guy in Ragnarok, so it´s not like he would have problem with that.

Different standards are projected in a way how we see romantic dynamics between fictional characters depends on what we are used to, how are we perceiving world around us, what we are expecting to see and ALSO, what we would like to see, that much is true.  When people are used to make no differences between heterosexual and homosexual pairing, then everything what happens to the characters is measured with the same meter. (Even though I experienced queerbaiting many times (( Once upon a time, Sherlock, Supernatural, Good Omens – the last one hopefully is not the case, but I guess we´ll see)) I also saw lots of lgbt shows like Queer as folks and Sense8.) And when we are not used to see it the same way, well… then it looks basically like that one comment under Castiel´s “I love you” scene on youtube, that said  “what a beautiful friendship”.

If we forget about all that chaotic mess behind the scenes (all those articles and contrary messages)  What is happening in a show between Loki and Mobius can be objectively considered romantic and what is happening between Loki and Sylvie in a series can be objectively considered platonic (until the kiss) and vice versa.  And then to see comments about how absurd it is to even think they have chemistry, and about gay fetish - it´s hard to swallow. I read posts about absurdity of a ship and how there is absolutely nothing that would suggests romance.  Well there is, actually. But whether creators are going to work with it or not, that´s something we can only speculate. They already made Loki officially bisexual. So why should it be so absurd to assume, that there is an actual possibility of romantic subplot between Loki and Mobius? Oh right… it´s Disney and Marvel we are talking about.

So on a subject of bisexuality: Bi people can date whoever they want.  But It is a little frustrating, when there is so many heterosexual pairings in the mcu and disney but when there is a promise of lgbt character (speaking of endgame) we get one line about date from a man we´ll never see again. And when there is a promise of lgbt representation you can´t even blink during movie, or you´ll miss it (Star wars, Beauty and the beast). And then Loki said “A bit of both, I suspect the same as you”. And I won´t lie, I was happy. And I think creators made biggest step yet with this one line (which is honestly terrible, that “a bit of both” coming from Loki of all people, is the biggest step forward.) But they played it VERY safe. Obviously, both Loki, and Sylvie are bisexuals, and in three episodes, we had Loki flirting with female flight attendant, Sylvie talking about her relationship with POSTMAN and then they fall for each other. So the only thing that suggests they are really as bi as Lamentis 1 is that little sentence, that can be edited out, or easily overheard. It´s the bare minimum. And I think that frustration with how freaking slowly we´re moving into some progress is understandable. From all those great M/M dynamics I talked about, those, that could make great love story, nothing happened, because too many people “don´t mind gays but don´t need to look at them” or are scared for their children. In 2021.

It is not a fetish to wish for a gay love story in superhero movies/series. (But anyway, I don´t think there is anything bad about it. Some men like to watch lesbian porn, some woman like to read gay porn. AO3 wouldn´t be were it is today, without people reading and writing slash :D – but that has little to do with what we actually see on tv)

I´m not delusional. As much, as I love these two characters together, I know how little chance it has.  I´m not delusional. I´m just in the future, old and tired, waiting hundreds of years for at least one of my OTP to finaly become a fucking canon.

#Lokius #loki series #LOKI AND MOBIUS #mobius m mobius #loki

[icarusinstatic]

Saw ep 4 earlier today and I have some thoughts:

Not to be looking at this with shipper glasses but I did not see any “chemistry” between Loki and Sylvie, at all.

What I did see on Lamentis and later in front of the TimeKeepers and was Loki attempting to comfort Sylvie and also maybe tell her that he believed in her. That she could be who and what she wanted to be

Sylvie’s nexus event was I’m betting her wanting to be a Valkyrie—someone who saves people. Someone who could be a hero. And I can’t see the timekeepers being in favor of a Loki who was a hero. They wouldn’t get a Loki that people are made better by in the same way.

Like think about it. The Avengers came together to defeat loki. Thor grew past what he had been with Loki as both foil and mirror. But in both of these cases Loki is used as a foil. Something the Avengers negatively fought against. And Thor for all he loves Loki still viewed him through the lens of occasional antagonist.

A Loki who grew up knowing they want to protect their people… that might have been too much for the TimeKeepers.

So no I’m not on the Loki/Sylvie train, but I am on the boat of them being disaster siblings and I really want them to go find the Thor after the events of Endgame and take him on wacky space time adventures. Please and thank

Mobius my petty king you dropped this👑

Like yeah the angst of him being a bastard to Loki for half the episode was a lot. But I mean he was jealous as fuck. It’s obvious he has feelings for Loki and his reaction to Sylvie and Loki’s admiration for her was *chefs 💋 *. He just decided that Loki was into Sylvie romantically without really listening to Loki like at all.

Casey still doesn’t know what a fish is and if we end the season without him finding out I’m going to personally sue marvel

Detective Mobius was a mood. Him finding out what happened to C-20 made me want to see him and Loki in a noir detective story.

Ravonna we knew you were shady but that was cold as hell what you did to Mobius.

Hunter B-15 is the MVP of the episode. Love her so much.

I’m not gonna lie, even though I knew it was coming I gasped when our boys got got.

Sylvie is going to be burning down the TVA next episode with B-15 and I’m here for it.

💕Croki my beloved 💕

Okay all I want from the next episode is Mobius and Loki to find each other. (And a hug would be nice)

I’d also like the other Loki’s to be like supportive family members watching their reunion.

I mean is it too much to ask for the Loki’s to ship Lokius?

#loki #mobius m mobius #lokius #croki #I can’t figure out how to do a #read more #on mobile 🤔

[lokiondisneyplus]

Every Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series to date has had its own distinct look and feel, from the sitcom-derived pastiche episodes of WandaVision all the way back to the grim-and-gritty, dimly lit street narratives of Jessica Jones and Daredevil. Marvel’s Loki has been one of the MCU’s more distinctive-looking series, though, from the dimly lit, industrial-brown corridors of Time Variance Authority HQ to the vivid neon city of Sharoo on the doomed moon Lamentis-1.

Series director Kate Herron confirms that some of these designs were directly inspired by classic science fiction, while others were more personal experimentation. We sat down with Loki’s cinematographer, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, to break down what went into designing some of the most striking and memorable sequences from the series’ first three episodes.

This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.

EPISODE 1: TIME THEATER INTERROGATIONS

Autumn Durald Arkapaw: Kate [Herron]’s sensibilities led me to get the job in the first place. We shared those sensibilities, around noir films and more moody thrillers, so we were already on the same page as far as lighting and tone. So when it came to the Time Theater, Kasra [Farahani], the production designer, did a fantastic job of creating a space that had a lot of opportunity to feel textural and moody, and create symmetry. I’m big on symmetry. I like to frame center-punched, keeping in mind the architecture of the room, and framing for the architecture and the people at the same time. Stanley Kubrick does that very well. A Clockwork Orange obviously came up in our discussions. Some of our main references were David Fincher’s Zodiac and Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, and the original Blade Runner, in terms of creating spaces that feel strong and weighted, with the people in them placed in a way where the conversation feels very heavy, so you’re paying a lot of attention to the lines, and where your eyes are drawn.

We did some lighting changes above, in the Brutalist ceiling. The lights move, so when we’re cutting back and forth, you see the lights change on the actors. We’re trying to time those movements to the dialogue. The editing was fantastic with that scene. We shot a good amount of coverage, and [series stars Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Owen Wilson as Mobius] play in that space a lot. So we’re trying to always keep it interesting, every time they go back there, changing up the lighting and the projections. That’s probably one of my favorite spaces in the show.

And then the acting, obviously — they’re riffing off each other, and you’re in the room with them and feeling the energy. It was very exciting. That scene was up front in our schedule, so Owen and Tom were getting to know each other in general. We got to watch that happen before our eyes, and it was very comical.

One of the most noticable things about that space is the harsh, rectangular overhead spotlights — Tom Hiddleston starts his interrogation under a spotlight, and when he gets angry, he moves himself back under it. How did you discuss that kind of blocking and framing?

The thing with Tom is, he’s a genius. He’s just a fantastic actor, The amount of things I could say about how amazing he is on set, and character-wise, the list goes on and on. You can introduce marks and let actors know where you’d like them to be for a shot, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where they’ll go. Some actors like to be more freeform. But with Tom, I wouldn’t have to say “Stand under that light.” He just knows, and he’ll play off that because of the space. He walks in, sees how it’s lit, knows our agenda, and uses that in the character.

So there were certain moments where he asked, “Is this what you’re thinking?” or we would have a discussion. But mostly, he uses the environment around him to tell the story as well, and he took in that lighting as part of the character. Actors know how they look in certain types of light. He’s very good at that. So he played with that in that space, for sure.

When we pull back and take in the whole room, the lighting feels punitive — the striped shadows are noir-movie standards, like light coming through blinds, but they also feel like prison bars. Is that something you discussed?

We never talked about prison bars, but in designing that space, Kasra was thinking about what that space was — being arrested, and being judged. It’s a claustrophobic space. Loki is slightly free to communicate and move around, but the walls and ceiling are concrete, there’s this fake light coming in, because obviously, in the TVA, there’s no day or night. You can see the light moving above, but there’s no sun there. It’s just moving at certain moments.

I had an idea, after seeing the latest Blade Runner, where Roger Deakins moves the lights around: Why don’t we have the lights move? It’s not easy to have big tungsten light sources above a ceiling set move like that, because it takes heavy motors. But my gaffer and key grip are amazing, and they figured out a way we could move the lights without causing shadows between each of the sections of lighting. It looks all like it’s moving at the same time. That took a lot of thought, getting those lights to move, and not just creating shafts of light that fade in and out. I think it helped a lot, because it’s very subtle. You’re only going to see it as they’re sitting. You’ll see sometimes the light moves from Owen’s shoulders into his eyes at the right moment, when you get lucky in the edit, and catch it at the right moment. It was great to have the resources to actually do stuff like that.

EPISODE 2: THE ROXXCART VARIANT PURSUIT

I’m a fan of green. If we’re designing a clinical environment, or a shopping mall, and we’ve got overhead fluorescents, I like to use cool white fluorescents that have kind of a green kick. I’m a big David Fincher fan, and there’s an undertone of green in his setups that I appreciate. So Roxxcart is a bigger shop that is now closed down, and Kasra outfitted it like a big-box Costco-type place? That wasn’t a full set — we went to this big warehouse, and he made it feel like that kind of store.

Above the space where we shot in, there were a bunch of fixtures. We completely removed those and put in our own tubes. They were RGB, and we could fade them and turn them off and on to our liking, flicker them, make them red when we wanted. When they’re cool white, I appreciate that green kick. I did a lookup-table color correction as well, to give it that tone. It’s meant to be clinical, but make you feel like you don’t know what’s at every turn. And we’re keeping lights on or off depending on which way we’re looking. Kate was a big fan of that space being very dark, with pockets of light. Our antagonist is supposed to come out of the darkness as people change identities.

We’re also trying to make that space look bigger than it actually was. We’re creating depth with light. That was a bitch to shoot — we had so much rigging. My team was amazing. If you go into a space like that, a Target or something, you’d think “The lighting here is not that big of a deal. It’s just overheads.” But being able to control all those overheads and make them different colors and flicker them takes a lot of rigging, with a dimmer board and the programming. In the editing afterward, it really does feel like a space that’s a lot bigger than it actually was. The red sequence is one of my favorites, for sure.

The camera is below waist level a lot in that sequence. What are you communicating there?

I always like to shoot low! It’s just how I see things. Some of my favorite films are detective thrillers from the past, Zodiac being one of those. I’ve always just loved shooting below the eyeline. Obviously there are moments in features I’ve shot where I want to be higher, because it’s more emotional or romantic or something. But in this kind of story, where you have these amazing spaces, and you have multiple characters you’re trying to frame, all facing off and being strong, I’m just a bigger fan of seeing a ceiling than a floor. It’s an appreciation I have, as far as it feeling more mysterious. When a character is looking more mysterious, and you’re not trusting them, you’re trying to figure them out, I love that kind of framing. It’s amazing.

EPISODE 3: FIGHTING TO REACH THE LAMENTIS-1 ARK

That sequence has a great backstory. I did a lot of prep with Kate. We started prep in Los Angeles before we ended up in Atlanta. We knew that sequence was coming up. but in the script, it just says “Okay, so they end up at Sharoo, and then go on.” The description of that sequence went through an evolution, with the filmmakers discussing things, building the set, and collaborating, so early on, we spitballed about what we thought that could be. Having the support of Marvel and being able to build, and being able to do great stunts, we went bigger.

With the sequence as it evolved, Children of Men was a big reference for us. Kate was really interested in that feeling. She wanted to be with the characters the whole way. We tried to figure out, should the camera be handheld? Should it be Steadicam? We ended up with Steadicam. We looked at some previous oners, because we wanted this sequence to feel like a oner to the audience. Obviously, there are cuts in there, but we seamed certain shots together so the audience wouldn’t feel as though we cut. The intention was to feel like you’re on the run with Loki and Sylvie, racing to the ark, building up tension. You’re there with them as they’re fighting.

My husband’s a DP, and he shot True Detective season 1. That oner in True Detective was something we looked at as well, because it’s just one of those great oners that feels real and has those kinds of textural elements. We did pre-viz, we did rehearsals in the space, prior to shooting there. We went there a couple times and did camera rehearsals. We had an amazing Steadicam operator who I’ve worked with on my last four projects and features. He’s very in tune with my eye, and he’s great with those kind of moves. Kasra understood that we needed certain paths to go down, to help us get from point A to point B, so it feels like a run, it doesn’t feel like people keep entering the same space. Obviously, it’s hard to build really big sets where you can go very far. So he did a great job of knowing what we needed, and then adding stunts, and figuring out how we could feel like we were turning corners whenever we’re moving into different spaces.

How big was the physical space? How much of what we’re seeing there is digital?

Shiroo was very different from Roxxcart. At Roxxcart, we had blue at the end of the aisles, so they look like they’re going on a lot longer than they are. But we traveled to that space. It wasn’t built. Shiroo was built on a backlot. That was a set we had full control over, to build to our liking. Above a certain point, as you’re looking up at the buildings, that’s VFX. But we built the actual buildings up to a certain height, and then beyond that is a digital extension. As far as the depth as well, beyond a certain part of the street, it’s a digital extension. Obviously, the ark is an extension, and we’re using the explosions as cues to do a lot of lighting cues. But it was a very big set, a gorgeous set. It has a lot of texture.

Kasra had the idea of painting a lot of the set in black-light paint, which I’d never seen before, and putting black lights everywhere. Also, we had a bunch of units on top that lit the set for the moon color and those sources, and we had VFX helping us stitch it all together. We had to shoot the sequences and look at the overlays on set to make sure we were creating matchups that would work in the final edit.

For me, that’s a very successful collaboration of in-camera elements — that whole set was real — and having explosions on set along with lighting cues, and then the effects to seam it together and do the extension above and the depth. So everyone really had to play like a good chunk of that. But they’d be effects overall, I think taking what we shot and making it feel like something that big, you know, the buildings are falling. Obviously, we didn’t drop buildings on people. There’s some foam stuff. That was really fun. We shot all that stuff at night.

The camera work in that sequence is some of the most dynamic movement in the series. What was the most difficult part about coordinating that sequence for you?

Rehashing it now, it was the prep. When we were actually there in the space with Tom and Sylvie, running through all of this stuff, it really made sense by that time. We’d been pre-vizing it and reworking it and massaging it for so long that ultimately, once we got on the set and had to follow them with the camera, and the energy was going, and we had the extras there, it all fell together. I think one day, we even wrapped a little early, because we’d just nailed it. When you’re prepping those types of shots, in your mind, you’re always like, “This is gonna be hard, it’s going to be difficult to seam these together, I like perfect headroom.” And you also want it to feel real, and people have to jump and fly and tumble into the frame. But on the day, our execution ended up being pretty good. So that was the most surprising thing to me, because it was kind of a pain in the ass prepping, because there are so many elements. And we’re doing six episodes, so we’re always working, trying to chase the next prep. But it really fell into place nicely.

#Loki #Autumn Durald Arkapaw #DoP

[iamanartichoke]

I was going to reblog this post but my response got long and I didn't want to spill meta all over someone else's meta, so I'm just going to make my own post about this topic.

So this is about the points @stellophia brought up; namely, the frustration with the narrative:

On the "the writers aren't making this clear" note, this begs a question that I've been wondering about since week 1 and it doesn't really require an answer, because I don't think there is one but I'm gonna toss it out there anyway -

At what point do we, collectively as an audience, determine that the writers have made X thing or Y thing Clear Enough? Where is the line drawn between "the writers have not made this explicit enough, so the narrative fails" and "the writers have given us enough for us to draw our own conclusions, there's only so much they can do" - and is one option better than the other?

Like, I don't know. A lot of things that seem to be causing the biggest reactions (positive, negative, whatever) are things that, yes, the narrative doesn't make explicit, but I feel like some of it isn't explicit on purpose. @stellophia 's tags mention that you (the viewer) have to take a step back and think for a second, and I guess I am not sure why that's being considered a bad thing (if it is; I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, stellophia).

I mean, when it comes to establishing the setting and the plot, yes, the narrative does need to be more explicit. It's not being made clear, for example, whether or not the TVA is Bad (I think that the subtext on that is as subtle as a flashing red light, but that's just me). "Because they were supposed to" is a shit explanation, both in-universe and out, for why the Avengers aren't in trouble for their time-meddling. Things like that, yes, please make it clear for us bc a majority of us don't know wtf is going on with all of that.

But, when it's coming to character development and interactions? There's some things that the narrative shouldn't have to spell out for us. I thought it was obvious that Mobius was interrogating Loki, for example; I also thought it was obvious that most of what he said was said for a purpose, to get a rise out of Loki, to push him to the breaking point. I don't believe that Mobius believes most of the terrible things he was saying (although I will never forgive "you killed your mother," idc why he said it).

I mean, maybe I've just watched too many detective procedurals with this same scene over and over again - that is, the police pushing and pushing to get a clue or a confession, saying whatever they need to in order to break the case - but it never even occurred to me that anyone would interpret that scene differently until I came online and saw all the various takes, and then I was like - ??

And I'm not saying that if something isn't obvious immediately, then you're not doing a good job at interpreting the material. What I am saying is that more often than not with this show and its characters, it feels to me like the writers are putting the clues in there and leaving it up to the audience to figure out how we should feel. They're tossing us some clues and hints like puzzle pieces and saying here, put these together, and there are a few variations on the final piece and you can approach it however you like, but we're not going to put together the puzzle for you.

In regards to Loki's general behavior, I see a lot of posturing and putting on a show; he's not being himself, he's trying to give Mobius and the TVA the illusion that he's unaffected and in control, particularly after having shown all of his vulnerable cards last week in front of a total stranger. (FWIW, I don't think that he's really succeeding at this, and it's kinda clumsy for the Loki we know, but I don't for a second think that Loki has just changed, overnight, into a whole new person. I think a lot of the clumsiness (cringeyness) is on purpose, sorta.)

I feel like there's a lot that the narrative is saying about Loki in general, without coming right out and saying it. Like, instead of taking his over-the-top posturing at face value and saying it's ooc, why aren't we giving more weight to what Loki does and how he feels in the moments when he's alone or when he thinks no one is watching? Why aren't we examining some of the things he says and ask ourselves, hmm, I wonder where that's coming from; I wonder what he means by that; I wonder what his ultimate goal is here.

In trying to make heads and tails of Loki here, one of the things I'm looking at is the different ways he interacts with different people:

He's defensive with B-15, for example; his tone of voice when he was explaining to her that he used magic to dry off can only be described as withering.

With Mobius, there are a lot of different hats he tries on, so to speak, but I don't think that Loki trailing after Mobius like an excited puppy should be given more narrative weight than Loki being curiously inquizitive about Mobius's interest in jet skis, or the way he sounds - absolutely certain, as someone who's seen Some Shit - when he says, "I know something that children don't."

And when he first encounters the variant, he's very collected and measured, choosing his words carefully and only getting annoyed and/or snarky when they start "fighting." (I, too, could do without the one-liners in the heat of battle, tbh.)

My point is that the way Loki's "personality" changes depending on who he's interacting with and in what context is a pretty big clue, to me, that we can't take everything he says or does at face value. And that having seen him acting in all of these different ways while only being two episodes in, it makes me feel like we haven't even begun to see Loki's entire characterization in this show and how he'll approach what's coming next.

This just circles me back around to: where is the line drawn between a narrative failing (which Avengers was, in a lot of ways, and the show may turn out to be as well but it's too early to tell) and narrative subtext that maybe isn't being made clear on purpose? At what point do we, as the audience, say hey, let's work for this a little bit. Stello's tags mentioned that a lot of things are going to be lost on the casual viewer and I agree that that's the case, but none of us are casual viewers here.

Again, I don't know if there's a correct answer to this and a lot of this is just speculative and is not aimed at any one argument, interpretatation, or person. These are just "food for thought" thoughts.

#i am so scared to post things sometimes #this is one of those times #loki tv series spoilers #loki series spoilers #loki spoilers #loki series meta #loki pokey artichokey

[sparklegemstone]

Taking a break from work so time to write up more of my Loki trailer thoughts since all the cool cats around here seem to be doing it :-D.

In chronological order:

1) Personally I was 'meh' about the trailer starting with the Endgame scene just because I think the Russos did a terrible job matching the tone of that scene with the tone of the original Avengers film's conclusion and I want the Loki series to feel like a continuation of Avengers.  Alas, the Endgame scene grates on me as feeling inauthentic to the story it's supposed to take place in.  But I certainly understand the practicality of needing to put it in to give the audience the context for when/how this new story with Loki is taking place.

2) But five seconds later on the other side of the wormhole…yay, Kate Herron fixed the tone!  This feels much closer in tone to when Thor and Lok depart for Asgard at the end of Avengers.  Excellent job Kate.

3) Was so pleasantly surprised by Owen Wilson's portrayal!  Very different than any of the comedic characters I strongly associate the actor's acting style with.  I like his character a lot with what we've been given so far.  It's instructive reflecting back on the potential concerns I had and that were being discussed in the fandom when we were working with scraps and rumors that we now know don't have merit: things like 'Hiddleston is only there to narrate the series' and 'How comedic in tone is this going to be if Waldron from Rick and Morty is hiring Owen Wilson?'.  Ah the good old days of baseless speculation.

 4) I mentioned the frequently low camera position in another post -- it does a poor job of conveying how Loki carries himself, tall and straight and elegant.  It makes him seem more ordinary, but maybe that's the point -- equalizing him with Mobius rather than it being an Asgardian in a non-Asgardian's presence.

5) The way Loki goes from locked down and not letting any sense of what's going on his head slip to Mobius (what I feel is in-character for Loki) to suddenly being a lot more open with what he's actually feeling and having less guarded, more friendly/casual attitude toward Mobius is weird to me.  I think it's a cut just for the trailer and hopefully it will make more sense in context, but Hiddleston's acting here and the way he has no qualms about being physically guided out of the elevator by Mobius is one of the points where it felt more like Hiddleston playing a different character than playing Loki to me (and lacking Loki's costuming doesn't help that perception certainly).  Which I know is nitpicky, but I was just curious to see to what degree this would actually feel like 'fresh off of Avengers' Loki and so I'm paying close attention to what feels in and out of character for me.  Does Mobius say something to really throw Loki for a loop that would cause him to drop his guard like that?

6) "Glorious" -> YAASSSS that's the Loki I wanted to recognize.  He's back!  I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around how blessed I am, but we've got him back for more screen time.  Also, with him back in Stark Tower and the later image of post-apocalyptic Manhattan, I am super intrigued by the possibility of Loki (and me too!) experiencing different ways things could have played out on Earth, if he'd succeeded in his conquest for example.

7) Loki's going to learn about what happened in the main timeline and the choices he made in the future?!  That's huge!  Should be a fascinating character moment.  This bit of Loki turning away from the projector gives me a lot of hope that the writing in the show is actually going to explore, honor, and authentically run with where Loki was as a character at the end of Avengers and the context of what he experienced rather than Marvel just plopping the "general" character of Loki into a genre-fied crime thriller show basically disconnected from the events of Thor and Avengers so they can say they made a Loki show.

8) Do I like Loki in the beige detective jacket?  Nah, not really.  But I do appreciate that even with the earth costume they kept Loki's style of being completely covered up.  Also creates contrast with him not being in control when he's in the TVA prisoner jumpsuit that has short sleeves.

9) Thought that was Nat on Voromir at first because of the purple environment.  Been reading some thoughts on how that's probably not Nat, and while the theories make sense, if that's true, why would Marvel put in a shot of a character that looks so much like Nat that it would cause confusion and maybe get her fans' hopes up?

10) I agree with @delyth88​ on the D.B. Cooper scene.  Didn't think I'd want Loki looking like Hiddleston, but I don't mind it / it's not taking me out of the scene as I might have expected.

11) The fight choreo and edit into the twirling -- I already discussed this before, but the physicality of it is giving me human-strength!Loki vibes.  If instead the guy he's fighting is also super strong, wouldn't the plastic or metal disc thing between them break upon impact?  Also the fact that it seems implied that Loki would get hurt by jumping out of the plane w/o Heimdall’s help to catch him.

12) The twirling -- is Loki legitimately, celebratorily, uninhibitedly happy?  I feel like we've never seen him like that since the Thor cut scene before they all made that fateful trip to Jotunheim.  I read a theory that the roman numerals on the building in this frame might mean he is in Pompeii the year the volcano erupts, which is interesting.

13) Loki saying "Brother”,  “Heimdall", coordinating with at least Heimdall, traveling on the Bifrost -- HOPE!  BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, HOPE!  I was honestly expecting the show to make no mention of anything connected to Asgard, except maybe segueing into Thor 4 at the very end, so the fact that Loki is (indirectly) interacting with Heimdall -- calling Thor "Brother" (even if not to Thor) !!!!!!!!!!!! -- interesting!  

14) The idea of him being D.B. Cooper is very fun! (though I didn't know who that was in advance).  It's very easy to pretend that Loki is real and has been an unidentified part of our history all along.

15) I do not like the last scene with comics!Loki suddenly being brought to life.  In fact I had a very kneejerk dislike of it the first couple times I watched the trailer (so many watches ago :-P) because it presses a very personal button of mine, which is how the MCU is moving toward becoming more spectacle-driven and comic-book-y and therefore away from the grounded, character driven storytelling that I enjoy about the MCU.  I'm here for the character of Loki that I love as he is already established in the MCU, not the comics versions of the character.  Also, IMO the acting is out of character for MCU Loki and more goofy.

That said, I'm hopeful context will help a whole bunch here as @iamanartichoke​ has said.  Given all the timey-wimey multiverse shenanigans, it's probably not even Avengers!Loki anyway, and I'm certainly not going to begrudge the many fans who are excited to see comics references on screen.

Overall impression?  Very excited, very hopeful.  Would I selfishly want a story that's just a direct continuation of the Avengers and hyper focused on the exact context of the character of Loki as he was in Avengers, fleshing out the off-screen bits and up-until-now only implied emotional impact of what Loki experienced between the end of Thor and the start of Avengers, digging into his relationships with the Black Order, and family, reconciling with his heritage?  Uh…duh ;-).  

But you have to give an audience what they need as opposed to what they think they want, and from a craft perspective, this has to be its own story.  The Thor and Avengers stories are their own stories, they're told, they're done, even if certain emotional threads were left hanging / implied / off-screen that we as very detail-oriented Loki fans would like to see dealt with explicitly.

But given that this was always going to be its own story, I'm very hopeful that the series has an explicit creative goal of telling a story that also does a great job with emotional continuity and exploring the fallout of Thor and Avengers and what that means for Loki's character; of honoring, picking up from, and running with Loki as a character in the context of who he was when he surrendered to the Avengers and where he goes from there.

The Marvel Studios executives could have easily decided to make an isolated story featuring Loki that general MCU fans that don't think overly deeply about the character would have been very happy with and probably it would be very successful, and I would have gladly taken that over nothing.  But I'm optimistic that that isn't what we're getting and that they chose to ground their story in the specific context of Loki's character.  We'll see!

#loki #loki+

[fireflyhwufanficwriter]

My thoughts on Dr. Stone’s Chapter 181 (“New World Science”)

My thoughts after reading Chapter 181:

01. I approve of Kohaku speaking on the first page 😁

02. The petrification beam looks different this time – individual points of light instead of just one wave. I know why that is (the tiny Medusas), but was the beam ever shown like this before this chapter?

03. If I hadn’t seen somebody say that the color spread was a crossover, I might have thought that guy was Ryusui or Tsukasa 😆

04. Senku immediately dives (figuratively) into testing the Medusas… wow 😲

05. And after that, Taiju immediately dives (literally) into testing the Medusas… 😁

06. Taiju’s face when he talked to the others about Stone Taiju and the revival fluid, with those black vertical makes me think… this isn’t just Senku’s journey. I mean, obviously it isn’t; they’re all there and everything, but finding out who petrified the world isn’t just some Senku thing or protagonist thing; it’s a question that’s burning in the heart of every former petrified person (and every petrified and still conscious person). The scale of what, and most importantly, who, all the petrified people lost just isn’t something the stone age folks can’t comprehend, and this is everybody’s journey, not just Senku’s.

07. I loved Taiju’s bouncing/swimming all over as he yelled, “One meter, one second!” and Kohaku wanting to join him because it looked fun! 😆

08. ...How did they all end up there?? Shouldn’t they have been unable to reach Japan since Japan was the furthest point? Or did they rain all over the place before, then were drawn back here due to a special magnet and thousands of years’ worth of ocean waves? (Okay… probably not, haha.)

09. Wait, even if they all fell… shouldn’t we have seen billions of tiny pieces of metal in the first chapter of the manga? Or the first episode of the anime (although it would have been pretty spoilery)? Or when Shamil and the others saw the green light?

10. Dr. Xeno’s sneakiness is really interesting. Kohaku proved that when it’s just plain sleight of hand, she can see through anybody’s tricks, so I thought at first that it was weird that she didn’t notice what Gen did. But then I realized that distracting people by talking to them, trying to sneak past them mentally, is Gen’s specialty, so he would definitely be the one to notice Dr. Xeno’s mentalist/manipulation attempt. Good job, Gen! 😊

11. I love how Chrome is just tugging at Dr. Xeno’s arm and scolding him 😆

12. Good thing they showed Tsukasa’s metal knuckle before he gave that huge punch! When did he get that?

13. If they’re like the original Treasure Island Medusa, could they reactivate it once by tinkering with it like Joel did? Of course, even if they could, the only people they could petrify would be intricate jewelers and other microtool users… that’s a pretty small selection of petrify-able people, hahaha!

14. How are Ginro and Matsukaze eating? Have they been getting food from Stanley’s crew’s supplies?

15. It’s nice to see Ukyo use his special knowledge to give insight into what they’re making, and for him to be in the spotlight! 😊

16. Would somebody mind explaining how slanted sides prevent detection? There were two frames that illustrated the concept, but I still don't fully get it... Is it like water sliding off a slanted surface instead of... yeah, I can't even finish that sentence 😆

17. ...Is Inagaki allowed to tell us all this stuff about how to avoid being detected by radar? 😆

18. Since we were shown a full moon here, I wonder if that’s significant in terms of how long things have taken… when was the last time we saw the moon? That chapter with the relationship/killing chart, right?

19. That was some fast ship construction… which… well, all the science after Treasure Island has been way too fast, but I suppose in comparison, at least this took a few pages to build, not just a couple of frames…

20. Tiny Ukyo looks so happy with the stealth ship! 😆

21. It almost looked like the end of the chapter when they presented us with the stealth ship, because I’m too used to chapters ending with them acquiring something 😆

22. I thought they would build a second ship with that shape (what’s it called again? I know it’s not a mobius strip), but then Chrome had that brilliant idea! And before that, that was a great question he asked! He’s so intelligent! He doesn’t have modern-era knowledge, but his sheer scientific imagination and curiosity and creativity is incredible! 😁

23. They blinged out their ship! Hahahahaha! 😆 That is the most blinged out ship in the history of ships! 😆 What did they use as an adhesive? Rubber? Or did they make a huge net with the Medusas and cover said ship with it? (Probably not...)

24. Some of them will fall off for sure on their sea journey; wouldn’t that be bad? What if the ones that fall are activated, or recharged and THEN activated, somehow?

25. Why didn’t they cover the underside of the stealth ship, too? Time? Materials? Or maybe it was invisible enough as it is now?

26. Of all the characters, it’s so fitting and so satisfying that the first past-21st-century technology created in this story came from an idea Chrome had! 😁

27. Okay… so… as far as I understand it, a bazillion Medusas rained down all at once. Not all over the world, because we’d have seen them earlier and Senku would have found them after he woke up – so they all rained down on this exact spot on Earth. Since one wouldn’t be powerful enough to cover the planet, they must grow more powerful as a whole the more of them are together; synergy and all that. Am I missing anything?

28. What’s under the pile of Medusas? Flat land? A mountain? Some kind of special Medusa-attracting magnet?

29. What metal is the Medusa made of? I’d have thought this would be one of Chrome’s first questions… not just now, come to think of it, but way back when they got the first one. Why hasn’t this been brought up yet? Are they types of metal that exist on the moon but not on Earth? Could it be one of those? I hope the topic comes up in a future chapter! 😊

https://firefly-hwufanficwriterrrrr.tumblr.com/MyDrStoneEpisodeMangaThoughts

#dr stone #ishigami senku #dr. stone #dr stone chrome #dr. stone chrome